Family Is A Six-Letter Word
by Kammie Celeek
Summary: Izuku's sister was adopted when they were four years old. She was his best friend and Bakugo's rival as they grew up and dreamed of going to UA to become heroes. It was because of her that he had the confidence to try and she believed in him, no matter what.
1. Prologue

Inko never intended to have another child.

With her husband seemingly overseas permanently and Izuku's issues with Mitsuki's son, she had no reasoning to want another child in the first place. Izuku was enough for her. Besides, she had no way to have one, she thought.

Then came the day she went shopping without Izuku downtown while he was at preschool. She was walking along when she suddenly felt a slight movement by her purse. Looking down, she saw a small hand retracting with her wallet and whirled around to see a little girl staring at her with wide, frightened eyes.

The same eyes Izuku had when he faced Katsuki.

The little girl gasped and ran off, taking Inko's wallet with her. Inko gave chase and quickly caught up with her, placing a gentle had on the little girl's shoulder.

"I'm sorry!" the girl squeaked, handing Inko back her wallet. "You have every right to be angry!"

"I'm not angry, sweetie." Inko knelt so they were at eye-level. "Why did you take my wallet?"

"I wanna… 'cause I wanna eat today." The simplicity and reality of that statement hit Inko hard.

"Where are your parents?"

"Dunno."

"Do you know where you live?"

The girl nodded and pointed down the small alley she'd ducked down. A box sat there with a blanket inside.

"That's where I live."

Inko's heart tightened. This wasn't right. This little girl wasn't much older than Izuku—the same age, if she had to guess.

"What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Kazumi. Just Kazumi."

"Well, Kazumi, how would you like to come with me to my house? I'll make you something to eat and we can talk."

"You're not gonna send me to the agency?"

"Which agency?"

"The one for kids with Quirks who don't have parents."

That _would _be the normal thing to do in this situation.

"Would you like me to bring you there?"

"No. The other kids are mean and they make fun of me all the time."

"Then I won't take you to the agency. Come with me."

She took Kazumi's hand and led her out of the alley. They took the train back to Inko's neighborhood, where she brought Kazumi to the apartment and made her a small snack.

While Kazumi stared out the window, Inko took in her appearance.

Kazumi was small and very thin, most likely from poor nutrition. Her ice-blue eyes were slightly dull from hunger. As for her clothes, they were tattered and stained, obviously never washed. But the most distinctive feature the little girl had was her hair; it rippled and flowed like water and was the cleanest thing about her.

_Hair made of water never has to be washed._

Inko let out a sigh and checked the laundry basket sitting on the kitchen table. Kazumi seemed to be about Izuku's size. She grabbed a blue t-shirt and a pair of shorts from the basket and handed them both to Kazumi.

"Change into these. You need new clothes, right?"

"I guess. Thank you, Miss Lady."

"It's Inko, if you don't mind. And here's a pair of socks, too." Inko watched Kazumi take the small articles and press them against her face.

"Soft. I like them."

"I'm glad. Now, get changed."

"Okay, Miss Inko."

"The bathroom is right over there."

Kazumi went into the bathroom and came back out wearing the borrowed clothes. Inko found a couple of hair ties she used in her own hair and smiled.

"Would you mind if I tied your hair back while you eat?"

"You can if you wanna. Thank you, Miss Inko." Inko tied Kazumi's hair into pigtails. Despite being made of water, it behaved just like regular hair… minus getting dirty and greasy and tangled. Kazumi sat down and began to eat her snack.

"I'm going to make a phone call. Will you be okay on your own?"

"Mm-hmm."

She took the phone into her room and closed the door so Kazumi wouldn't hear as she dialed a number. The number of the Center for Future Heroes. That was the agency Kazumi had referred to, though the name was just so it sounded more inviting to people looking to adopt.

_"Center for Future Heroes,"_ the woman on the other end stated. _"This is Gardien speaking. How may I help you find your future pro hero today?"_

"My name is Inko Midoriya. I was just downtown in my city and I found a little girl named Kazumi."

_"Oh. Kazumi."_ Gardien sounded sad and a little frustrated. _"You're hardly the first person to call about her. She's been one of our more difficult cases."_

"Difficult?"

_"She doesn't get along well with the other children, mostly because of the nature of her Quirk. We haven't been able to learn much, but…"_ There was the sound of a mouse clicking in the background. _"Ah. Here's her file. According to this, her body is made entirely of water and she has hydrokinesis. The other children don't see her as human because of that."_

"Poor thing…"

Meanwhile, Kazumi had finished the snack Inko made her and was looking around the apartment. There were a few toys of a hero she recognized as All-Might—the Number One hero and the Symbol of Peace. She headed over to the window and saw a park across the street, where some kids were playing. For a moment, she wanted to join them, then she shook her head. She had to wait for Miss Inko to finish her call.

Then something caught her attention.

On the playground, she could see a boy with green hair talking to another boy with spiky blonde hair. From what Kazumi could see, the boy with the spiky hair was pushing the green-haired boy down and making small explosions with his hands.

_He's going to hurt him!_

Kazumi ran for the door and put on her old, ratty sneakers that she'd had for a while. Without a second thought, she ran out of the apartment and down the stairs, heading straight for the park. By the time she got there, the green-haired boy was cowering in fear of the other boy.

"See, Deku? You can't face me!" the blonde-haired boy declared. "You don't have a Quirk!"

"You leave him alone!" Kazumi yelled. The blonde snapped his head around to look at her.

"And what are you gonna do?" he sneered.

"I'll stop you!"

"Go. I'll be fine," the green-haired boy insisted.

"No! I hate bullies!" Kazumi puffed out her cheeks and narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "So… so you leave him alone or I'll use my Quirk on you!"

"So you wanna challenge me, new girl?"

"My name is _Kazumi_!" She formed a small water bubble in her hands and prepared to fire as the boy shot an explosion at her. She doused it just in time.

"Hey! No fair, Water Witch!"

"Don't call me that!" She soaked him; her Quirk wasn't too powerful yet, so she wasn't able to do much more than get him wet.

"You—"

"Izuku!" Inko seemed to come out of nowhere as she dashed over to the green-haired boy and knelt beside him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine…" he mumbled. Inko then turned her attention to Kazumi, who looked terrified.

"Come here, sweetheart." Kazumi obeyed and stood next to Inko, who gazed at the blonde-haired boy. "Katsuki, I'll be calling your mother about this."

"Auntie Inko, don't—"

"Don't call her? You were hurting Izuku again!"

"But _she_ got me all wet!" Katsuki pointed at Kazumi.

"She was defending somebody who couldn't stand up for himself!" She stood up and took Izuku and Kazumi's hands. "We're going home."

"Bye, Kacchan," Izuku called as the three of them headed towards the apartment. "Mama, who's this?"

"This is Kazumi. I found her while I was shopping. She doesn't have a home, so we're going to give her one, okay?"

"Really?!" both children gasped in disbelief.

"Really." They entered the building and then the elevator. "Are you okay with that, Izuku? Having a sister?"

"Yeah! She can go up against Kacchan without a problem!"

"And Kazumi, are you okay with living here?"

"You mean it, right?"

"Of course I mean it." The elevator arrived at their floor and they made it to the apartment. "I wasn't sure until I saw you defend Izuku, though. He needs somebody like you—a friend to be on his side when he's having problems, or somebody to play with. And you need a home and a family. So why not this one?"

Kazumi's lip wobbled and her eyes filled with tears as she started to sob, burying her face in Inko's skirt.

"Thank you! Thank you, Mama!"

_Mama._

Inko Midoriya had another child.

* * *

"Izuku, please stay still."

"But I'm excited!" he protested, jumping up and down as Inko fixed Kazumi's hair into pigtails for the day. "Kazumi's going to be my sister for real now!"

For a month, Inko had been going through the process of officially adopting Kazumi. Today was the day she went down to the courthouse to get the final paperwork signed so Kazumi would be a Midoriya. The courthouse even allowed adoptive parents to take a family photo once the paperwork was complete, hence why she was bringing Izuku and Kazumi with her.

_Our first family photo._

"All done. Go get your shoes on while I try to wrangle your brother."

Kazumi hopped off her chair and ran to the front door while Inko picked up Izuku to try and tame his hair. It proved to be fruitless, though, so she simply grabbed her purse and made sure the door was locked behind them as she headed out the door with her children.

The train ride was short but nerve-wracking. After today, Inko would officially have a daughter. And a daughter who loved living with them as much as Inko loved having her there. Her gaze went to Izuku and Kazumi, who were playing some sort of hand-clapping game while they giggled about something that only they knew the meaning of. The train pulled to a stop at the right station and she took each of them in hand.

"Stay with me, all right? Downtown is busy this time of day." Luckily, the station wasn't far from the courthouse and the kids wouldn't get tired.

But as Inko approached the courthouse, she saw a few people waiting there for her. It was Mitsuki and her husband, Masaru, along with Katsuki. Katsuki was slightly dressed up and looking angry as usual while his mother looked excited and happy.

"Inko!" Mitsuki greeted her friend. "Hi!"

"Mitsuki, what are you doing here?"

"Well, it's not every day my best friend adopts a little girl! I thought we'd be here for moral support. Plus, Katsuki's gonna have to get used to having her around."

"Thank you."

"Meanie Kacchan…" muttered Kazumi, glaring at the boy.

Inko headed into the courthouse and was shown into the proper room, where a judge witnessed her signing the paperwork and then signed it himself to finalize it.

"Inko Midoriya, I now pronounce you the mother of Kazumi Midoriya."

Kazumi and Izuku started cheering while Mitsuki gave both the kids a hug.

"Welcome to this crazy family, Kazumi! Katsuki, get over here!"

He let out a huff and did as his mother said. Kazumi was handed her adoption certificate and told to hold it up for the picture. Her eyes were full of tears of joy while Izuku and Inko's were the same way. But all three of them kept smiling as the picture was taken. Mitsuki then insisted on getting a picture of the three kids together—Izuku in between Katsuki and Kazumi. Kazumi was so happy to have been adopted that the scowl she usually wore in Katsuki's presence had disappeared in favor of her bright smile. Katsuki chose to smile, too, though his could be better qualified as a smirk.

Once that was all said and done and the pictures had been given to Inko, the two families of three headed off to grab lunch together at a nearby diner. Katsuki sat between his parents at the round table, with Kazumi sitting to his mother's other side and Izuku sitting on his father's other side. Inko sat between her children, helping them read the menu and decide what they wanted. They were even allowed to get ice cream as a celebratory treat.

It was the last time Katsuki Bakugo and the Midoriya siblings would be civil for a while.

* * *

**So, for those of you who don't know (because you didn't read it), Kazumi was one of the main characters of my story "Antihero". She was a villain Izuku's best friend there, and when I finished the story I mentioned having an AU where she was adopted by Inko Midoriya and grew up as Izuku's sister and Bakugo's rival. I posted that and said that I would write it if people wanted it.**

** And apparently you do.**

** And apparently that one guest low-key ships Bakugo and Kazumi. Which I completely understand and I kind of want to do. I might do it, but that's far off in the future.**

** For now, let's focus on the kiddies growing up.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	2. Rivals

**Similarly for what I did for "Antihero", I will be answering comments from Fanfiction in the author's notes at the beginning of each chapter.**

** First, to pedrojunior0922. The answer to your question is yes. However, I will not be stating what the question was to kind of keep the surprise for new readers. Kazumi's parentage is the same here as it was in "Antihero", save for her not being adopted by All For One.**

** Next, to ElephantBoy00, thank you. I was going for adorable.**

** And third, to sayumiko0. Yes, Izuku is still Quirkless. The storyline is going to follow that of canon with Kazumi taking Mineta's place in class 1-A. I really hate Mineta and I never do anything with him so BYE, pervert!**

** Now to emiya-excalibur (a little late this time but I love you anyway), thank you for thinking this is cute.**

** And finally, to The Keeper of Worlds: I'm glad you approve of the ship. I do, too, which is why it will happen eventually. We've got to get them to that point first.**

** On with the story!**

* * *

Very quickly, Inko realized something about her adopted daughter.

Kazumi had frequent nightmares.

Often during the night, Izuku would come and wake their mother up, saying that Kazumi needed help because she was scared. And Inko would go and help her without issue. She never pushed Kazumi to tell her the reason, but one night Kazumi asked her something after she'd been soothed.

"Mama, you love me, right?" she whispered.

"Yes I do."

"And I love you, too!" Izuku added, smiling.

"And you're not gonna get tired of me and leave me, right?"

"Of course not! Where did you get _that_ idea?" Kazumi sniffed.

"The papa and mama I was born to didn't want me. They left me on a street corner. I keep thinking you're going to abandon me too."

"I would never do that to you, Kazumi. And I know Izuku won't abandon you, either. You're a very beautiful and smart little girl who just got a bad set of birth parents. But you got lucky and found a loving mama and brother to help take care of you and be there for you when you need them."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"I promise!" echoed Izuku.

"Now, off to bed, both of you."

"Night, Mama!" the two chorused, giggling madly.

* * *

Kazumi was tagging along with Izuku and Kacchan and the other neighborhood boys as they explored a forested area. Kazumi had a backpack on, carrying snacks and water and a first-aid kit that Inko had taught her how to use in case something happened. The sight of her carrying said backpack was fairly common in the neighborhood and it was the only reason Kacchan and the other boys let her hang out with them. That and she was the only girl in the neighborhood who preferred boys' games to that of the other girls.

"Forward march and here we go!" called Kacchan, firing off small sparks as they went across a fallen tree. "Members of the agency Bakugo! Sound—"

He placed one foot wrong and fell into the water below them, making all the other kids look on in worry. Izuku ran down to check on him while Kazumi just followed her brother. She wore a light green T-shirt under a set of overalls with a pair of red sneakers to match Izuku's, her hair tied back in pigtails that flew behind her as she ran.

"Are you all right?" Izuku asked, extending a hand as he waded up to Kacchan. "Are you hurt? I thought you might've hit your head or something."

Instead of accepting the helping hand, Kacchan slapped it away, making Kazumi gasp.

"I don't _need_ your help!" Kacchan got to his feet only to be smacked back by a wave of water. He looked to see Kazumi wading into the water.

"He was only being nice!" she snapped, throwing her hand as if she was slapping Kacchan. And she was, only with water instead of her hand.

"No fair, Water Witch!" Izuku ran and stood beside his sister. "Besides, you're only defending him because he's a Quirkless loser!"

"No I'm not! He's my brother and it's my job to help him! Plus, you're such a jerk!"

The other three boys gasped and ran down to the shore of the small river to see what was about to happen. Nobody insulted Kacchan and got away with it.

"How about you prove how strong you are, then, Water Witch?"

"Bring it on!"

"Um, Kacchan? Kazumi?" spoke up Izuku. "Maybe we shouldn't, um… fight…?"

"Yeah." Kazumi nodded. "Izuku and I are gonna play _without you_!" She turned around. "C'mon, Izuku!"

The two got out of the water and headed back onto the fallen tree, where Kacchan sent a small explosion to almost set Kazumi's shoe on fire. She screamed as she lost her footing, but Izuku grabbed her hand before she could fall like Kacchan had. He was strong for their age, pulling his sister back onto the fallen tree and then helping her to her feet.

"Thanks, Zuku," she breathed.

"It's no problem, Zumi." They headed back the way they'd come, Kacchan yelling insults after the two that they ignored.

"You know, Zuku, you're gonna make a great hero once you get your Quirk!"

"You think so?"

"I know so! You saved me from falling without another thought!" She grinned. "Izuku and Kazumi, the top heroes in Japan and a team for life!"

"Yeah! We'll be unstoppable!" They pumped their fists into the air.

* * *

"It's not gonna happen, kid."

Izuku stared at the doctor with tears in his eyes as Kazumi glared at the man and Inko looked concerned.

"See, we've discovered something. There's a slight difference in the toe joints of those who have Quirks and those who don't." He pulled out two X-rays—both were of toes and one had extra joints. "This right here is your son's toe joints. Quirkless people have those second joints and we believe it's how you can differentiate between the two. This other one is your daughter's. She doesn't have the second joint, hence why she has a Quirk."

Izuku started to cry as his sister hugged him and Inko explained her and her husband's Quirks. When asked how her daughter had a Quirk that wasn't related to telekinesis or breathing fire, she simply replied with 'my daughter is adopted but no less my child than Izuku is'.

On the way home, Izuku was silent, clutching his All-Might figure and leaning against his sister. Inko was just as quiet, silently blaming herself for Izuku's situation.

And then the two female Midoriyas found Izuku watching the All-Might video with tears in his eyes.

"I… I can be a hero too, right?" he asked, his voice croaking.

"I'm sorry, Izuku—" started Inko, but she was cut off by Kazumi.

"Of course you can be a hero, Zuku!" the little girl assured him. "You're smart and strong and brave! All things a hero needs to be! And if people can't see that, then they're big dummies!"

"Thanks, Kazumi." By the tone of his voice, Inko could tell he wasn't quite convinced.

And the fact that the teasing only got worse didn't help. Kacchan and the other boys mocked Izuku relentlessly for being Quirkless, for being useless, for needing his sister to help in his battles when Quirks got involved. But Izuku was fine with Kazumi doing the fighting; she was more hot-tempered and suited for it. No, he was upset because Kacchan was right. He couldn't fight his own battles when it came to Quirks and that was why he was okay with Kazumi defending him.

Of course, it all came to a head in middle school.

* * *

"What happened?!"

Kazumi ran over as Bakugo backed away from Izuku with a shocked and terrified look. Her brother was cradling his hand with a pained expression, hiding it from her view. She let out a huff of frustration as she crouched beside him and took his wrist in her hand, taking care not to jostle it too much as she surveyed the damage. What she saw was horrifying and something that had been bound to happen eventually with how often the two boys came into conflict.

Burns.

_Kacchan burned Izuku._

"What. Happened. To. My. Brother?" she asked Kacchan, sending him a cold look as she stated each word emphatically.

"Don't look at me, Water Witch—" Bakugo started to snap before she cut him off.

"You're the only person who could've done this!" she yelled. "Nobody else in our school can make any kind of fire!"

A small crowd had gathered when the burn had happened, and one of the boys' whispers had caught her attention.

_"Kazumi's not going to like this."_

And now? Now she was pissed at Bakugo, but she was more concerned with Izuku.

_Use cold water on a burn._

Inko's first-aid training from all those years ago rang in her head and she turned her hands to water as she put Izuku's between them. Kacchan yelled for her to pay attention to him but his voice was background noise to her as she focused on her task and let out a breath.

_Soothe the burn. Soothe the burn…_

The water turned colder as she tried to do just that and Izuku could feel his skin cooling down. The injury was still there, but it wasn't as painful anymore. Kazumi could control the temperature of her water… kind of. He wasn't sure if she could heat it up yet but if she could make it colder, maybe she could make it hotter too.

"Hey! Water Witch!" She helped her brother to his feet, then turned towards the cause of the injury.

If looks could kill…

"Kacchan," she stated, balling her hands into fists. "I'm going to take my brother to the nurse and then you and I are going to settle this once and for all tomorrow, after school, at the park we went to as kids."

"You're challenging me?" He looked… _amused?_

"What, do you think I can't handle what you can dish out?"

"Nah. I just don't wanna make your brother watch me kick your ass."

Kazumi's hair started to steam, like it always did when she was angry. And that confirmed it for Izuku. Kazumi could _definitely_ control the temperature of her water. It was just a matter of her learning to do it intentionally rather than by circumstance. She set down her backpack and pulled out some burn cream and bandages, which she used to quickly dress her brother's wound. Once that was done, Izuku made sure to step out of the way as his sister narrowed her eyes at Kacchan.

"Actually, how about we settle this _now_?" Her voice chilled those gathered to the bone. Izuku scrambled to get out his notebook and make a new notation on Kazumi's page.

"I like the sound of that!" Explosions popped up from Kacchan's hands as he prepared to fight her.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" the other students chanted.

Kacchan threw the first attack, which Kazumi dodged with ease. He followed it up with a volley that was nearly impossible to avoid… had she not been made of water. She disappeared as they hit where she'd been standing.

"Where'd you go?!" he yelled.

Suddenly, he was forced backwards by a jet of water and looked to see Kazumi's top half sticking out of a puddle in the ground.

"Whoa…" one of the boys in the crowd breathed in awe.

"That's cheating, Water Witch!"

"It's part of my Quirk, asshole!"

She threw another blast of water, this one more intense, as she surged forward. Her bottom half emerged from the puddle, making her whole again.

"You're _dead_!" He rushed towards her, hands sparking, before a whistle blew and got their attention.

"Mr. Bakugo! Miss Midoriya!" yelled their homeroom teacher. "Guidance office, now!"

"Fine!" Kacchan spat on the ground as he passed Kazumi, then lowered his voice. "This isn't over, Water Witch. You and me—we're rivals now. You better watch your back or I'll kill you."

"I'd like to see you try."

Izuku followed his sister into the building, a little in awe of what she'd done.

* * *

_Kazumi Midoriya, my Plus-Ultra awesome sister._

_ Quirk: Waterworks._

_ Her body is made entirely of water and she has hydrokinesis, meaning she can manipulate water around her as well. Because her body is made of water, she can turn into a puddle as an evasive maneuver. She can also regulate the temperature of the water she uses, though this ability seems limited at the moment. _

_ Weak to cold weather and electricity due to water body._

Izuku sighed as he looked at Kazumi's page. All of this information had been gathered over the near-decade she'd been his sister and some of it had been as shocking to her as it was to him. No pun intended on her weaknesses.

Her weakness against electricity had been made obvious when they were in elementary school and they'd been walking home together. A villain with an electricity Quirk had been attacking downtown and though his attacks did little more than stun most people (like about a dozen other people, Izuku had been hit by a massive blast that had made him freeze for a few seconds and left his hair standing on end) but with Kazumi, it was a different story. Water conducted electricity and Kazumi didn't have much insulation to keep her body from reacting, so she'd been sent to the ground.

She'd been hospitalized for a week and had sustained the worst injuries out of anybody during that attack. Even after that, when she'd been allowed to go home, she accidentally shocked Izuku with static electricity for a few days whenever she touched him.

As for cold weather, well… water freezes.

The first time she'd turned into a puddle had been an accident, too. While playing dodgeball in PE, she'd been the last one on their team left standing and as a result the other team had targeted her. She was faced with a volley much like the one Kacchan had thrown at her earlier that day and she'd melted before their eyes into a puddle of water on the ground. And rather than punish her for using her Quirk, the teachers praised her for discovering a new aspect of it. That didn't happen every day by accident and Izuku had been so impressed by the fact that Kazumi just shrugged it off like it was nothing.

_My sister's amazing. And me… I'm a nobody._

Suddenly, something flicked the side of his head.

"You're thinking about being Quirkless again, aren't you?" Kazumi asked, sitting down beside him.

"Yeah. Kind of hard _not_ to, honestly."

"Well, it's like I said when we were kids. You can be a hero without a big flashy Quirk like mine and Kacchan's. You just have to work a little harder."

"Mom's more of a hero than I am."

"How so?"

"She rescued you off the street where you were picking pockets." She giggled.

"I stole her wallet that day."

"Yeah, I know. She still swears you took a few hundred yen, too."

"Maybe I did and maybe I didn't. I'm still grateful she decided to take me in." She sighed. "Because of her, I have a chance to go to UA—"

"You're not going to UA, Water Witch."

"Kacchan!" gasped Izuku. Kazumi glared at the blonde.

"Who says I'm not going?"

"I do. Because _I'm_ going and I don't need _you_ screwing it up for me! You got that?"

"I'm still going."

"No you're not."

"Who's gonna be your rival if I don't go to UA?" Kacchan opened and closed his mouth, not being able to respond to that. Then he whirled around and left."

"Kazumi, you're way cooler than I am."

"No I'm not. I'm just… lucky. That's all it is with a Quirk—luck. It's like throwing dice; you can hope for one outcome but more than likely you're not going to get it."

"I guess."

"Don't worry. You'll get into UA too. They'd be stupid not to accept you."

"But I don't have a Quirk."

"Fuck that."

"KAZUMI!"

"What? You're always putting yourself down because you don't have a Quirk, but you've got every quality of a hero that you need other than that one tiny genetic detail. So I say fuck not having a Quirk."

"Kacchan's rubbing off on you."

"Ew. Gross. How do I get him to stop?"

"You can't."

"Dammit. Who knows, though? Maybe a miracle will happen and you'll get a Quirk somehow."

"Ha. Right."

_At the time, I brushed off Kazumi's comment as wishful thinking. But now I think she was trying to keep my spirits up because I wasn't happy too much anymore. Besides, a miracle did happen._

_ I got a Quirk._

_ And Kazumi didn't even know until the day of the entrance exam._

* * *

**So, yeah. From here, things pretty much play out like they do in canon. Izuku trains with All-Might for ten months to inherit One For All while Kazumi prepares for the entrance exam. Next time will be their entrance exam where Izuku goes all One-Punch on a giant robot.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	3. The Boy Formerly Known as Quirkless

**Comments of the day!**

** To emiya-excalibur. Yes. YEET Endeavor to the sun. Go ahead and give Kazumi all the hugs you want. The Midoriyas are possibly the most pure family in MHA, anyway!**

** Axlexington: Thank you for the fish. I will feed them to my cat. And then put the leftovers in the fridge also to feed to my cat.**

** And finally, to The Keeper of Worlds. I will absolutely make Kazumi troll her brother when it comes to Ochaco. It's going to be subtle until certain events happen that kind of… strengthen the idea in her mind. Then it's turned up to eleven.**

** On with today's story!**

* * *

Izuku let out a sigh as he and Kazumi approached UA High.

"You nervous?" she asked him.

"A little. How about you?"

"Well, I don't know what the practical has in store, but I'm sure you'll do better than me on the written portion. You've always been smarter."

"But I was helping you study, so you might do better than you think."

She shrugged, then a voice caught them both off-guard.

"Get out of my way before I set you both on fire." Bakugo pushed past them and she glared at his back.

"Hard to set water on fire!" she yelled.

"SCREW YOU, WATER WITCH!"

Listening to his sister and Bakugo bicker was oddly comforting and familiar territory. Kazumi kept walking as Bakugo turned around to talk smack to her.

_I'm going to do it. I'm going to be a hero!_

He tripped over his own feet.

_Or I'll just die._

He was stopped just before he hit the ground and found himself floating in midair.

"Are you okay?" asked a very feminine voice. He looked to see a pretty girl with pink cheeks and brown hair. Internally, he freaked out as he was set upright. "I stopped you with my Quirk. Sorry for not asking, but I figured you wouldn't mind me helping you."

"Uh…" Izuku stammered like an idiot as his sister came back.

"Jeez, this is all so nerve-wracking, huh?" the girl laughed.

"Yeah, it is!" Kazumi agreed.

"See you two inside!" The girl walked off and Kazumi looked at Izuku.

"You okay, buddy?"

"I talked to a girl!" he squeaked. Kazumi rolled her eyes.

"You didn't actually talk, dummy. You stammered. C'mon, we're gonna be late."

Inside the auditorium, Present Mic explained how the practical worked. Izuku and Kazumi had been assigned to the same battle site, oddly enough, while Bakugo was on a completely different site from the two of them. Then, they found out about the three types of enemies plus the fourth one.

"A zero-pointer… that seems odd," Kazumi whispered to her brother.

"I know… but you'll have no problem with any of the others, I bet. Me, I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Sounds like a final boss to me."

"Would the two of you kindly stop chattering?" asked a boy a few rows up, glaring at the Midoriya siblings. "It is quite distracting."

"S-sorry!" Izuku mumbled.

With that, they changed into their gym clothes and headed out to the battle center. Kazumi viewed the gate. She wouldn't admit it to Izuku or anybody else, but the gate was intimidating to her. It reminded her of being a child on the streets, going from house to house to find food. Closed doors, no opportunities… She then glanced at her brother, who was shaking with fear.

"Izuku, you're gonna do fine," she assured him, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"You should be focused on the test ahead," stated the boy who'd snapped at them for talking earlier. "Not on your friends."

Whispers broke out about Izuku being so nervous, everyone writing him off as done for already. Kazumi let out a growl. She _hated it_ when people called her brother weak because he didn't have a Quirk. She'd thought UA would be different, but here were the other applicants proving her wrong.

But when it was time to go in and kick ass, she ran in without a second thought.

For eight minutes, she ran around like a madwoman, slicing into robots with her water or smashing them into buildings with huge jets of it. One almost stepped on her, but she turned into a puddle and evaded, much to everyone who saw's shock and awe.

Then the zero-pointer arrived on the scene.

Her eyes widened. There was no time to think. She turned and ran, then heard a sound not unlike a jet taking off. She whirled around to see…

_Izuku?!_

Her brother was rushing towards the robot _in midair_ and reeling his arm back… taking it out in one punch. She stared in shock, then noticed the girl who'd saved him earlier freeing herself from under some rubble. Right where the robot had been about to step.

She was reminded of when Izuku had saved her when they were little.

_Oh my God. He… he has a Quirk!_

Her eyes teared up. Yep, she was a Midoriya—overdone tears and all.

_I'm so proud of you—wait, are your legs broken!? You moron!_

He was plummeting to the ground, his legs _and_ right arm broken. She knew exactly what was going through his mind and she couldn't do anything to stop his fall. But luckily, gravity girl had her beat as she slapped Izuku across the face, making him float just inches from the ground before she released him. Then promptly threw up.

"Izuku!" gasped Kazumi, running to her brother's side.

_No. Shit, I'm a bad sister, no no no no!_

"Gotta… get one point…" he whimpered.

"You can't get any. You're down three limbs."

_"And time's up!"_

Izuku looked ready to sob as Kazumi put her hand on where the bruising was the worst, willing it to cool down. She was grateful that he'd figured out that aspect of her power. The cooling down part, at least. Heating up was still spur-of-the-moment anger, but being able to make cold water was useful for soothing injuries. Still, her brother passed out from the shock and pain.

"Is… is he alive?" the gravity girl asked.

"He's alive. He's an idiot, but he's alive." She sighed. "I had no idea he could do that…"

"None of us did."

"No, I mean…"

Kazumi was cut off by Recovery Girl arriving on the scene. The Youthful Heroine healed Izuku without much effort and looked at the girl made of water.

"Mind taking him to the written exam, missy?"

"Not at all." Kazumi slung Izuku's arm over her shoulder and smiled. "Thanks for healing this idiot."

"Oh, it's my job to heal idiots. Good luck with yours."

Kazumi smiled and headed off.

* * *

"I failed."

"You don't know that—"

"I failed the entrance exam! I barely passed the written portion and on the practical I got a big fat zero! Tell me that's not failing!"

Kazumi cringed.

It had been a week since they'd taken the UA exams and Izuku had been like that since they got home. She hadn't even been willing to tell Inko what she got on the practical out of solidarity for her brother.

"Focus on what's important—you have a Quirk! How did that happen?"

"Oh, um…"

_"Could I tell my sister about One For All?"_

_ "Your sister?"_

_ "Yeah. She's my closest friend and I trust her more than anybody else."_

_ "Not yet. You'll need to get used to your power first. Once you have control over it, you can tell her."_

"I guess I'm just a late bloomer."

"I knew the toe-joint thing was bullshit!" She looked excited. "You were so upset when we were kids, but I knew you could do it!"

"I didn't even make it into UA!"

"Again, you don't know that!"

Izuku sighed.

"I'm going to my room."

He flopped onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

When he and Kazumi had hit their third year of elementary school, the family had moved to a slightly bigger apartment in their building—one with three bedrooms instead of two. The reasoning behind the move was simply because Izuku and Kazumi were getting older and each of them needed their own space. And more privacy. It hadn't been easy to get used to having his own room at first, but he learned to deal with it. Even though Kazumi still suffered nightmares he doubted she'd ever really outgrow, she learned how to deal with them quietly and not wake up the whole household when she had them. Plus they'd become much less frequent.

"IZUKU! KAZUMI!"

Both teens rushed out of their rooms to see their mother holding two envelopes as she looked panicked.

"They're here! Your test results!" she gasped, holding out the envelopes. Each of her kids took theirs into their respective room.

And that was when Izuku had one of the biggest shocks of his life.

He'd made it into UA.

As for Kazumi, well, the fact that she'd also made it in wasn't much of a surprise. After all, she had more skill with her Quirk and had gotten actual combat points on the exam alongside twenty-five rescue points for trying to administer first-aid to Izuku. Not to mention her brother had helped her study for the written portion. They were also going to be in the same class—Class 1-A. Both of them were ecstatic.

The Midoriyas were going to UA.

* * *

The physical tests that Aizawa put them through put Kazumi at the fourth spot for their class and Izuku at the twentieth. Miraculously Aizawa decided not to send him home and instead, they went back inside to commence with the rest of the school day. After school, the Midoriya siblings were walking home together like they always had.

"Wait!" called a voice. It was the boy with the glasses who had admired Izuku's tenacity.

"Hi," Kazumi greeted him.

"I apologize for snapping at you both during the entrance exams. I was very nervous and your talking wasn't helping."

"It's fine," Izuku laughed. "Besides, we really shouldn't have been talking."

"Are you three walking to the station?" asked a fourth voice. It was the gravity girl who'd had the infinite score on the softball throw.

"Yeah," Kazumi replied. "You wanna walk with us?"

"Sure. Oh!" She clapped her hands. "I'm Ochaco Uraraka. And you're Tenya Iida, Deku Midoriya, and…?"

"Kazumi. Kazumi Midoriya."

"A-and my name's Izuku Midoriya! The o-only person who calls me Deku is Kacchan, and that's to make fun of me."

"That's not very sportsmanlike," Iida mused.

"I think that it would make a great hero name! Plus, it's pretty cute, don't you think?"

"Deku it is, then!"

"You're hopeless," Kazumi sighed.

"Wait, you said your last name's Midoriya… and his last name is Midoriya… are you two related?"

"We're brother and sister. But we're not related by blood, which is why we don't look anything alike or have similar Quirks."

"Oh, phew. I thought you guys were gonna be like secretly married or something."

"Ew, no."

"I'm pretty sure you'd prefer to marry Kacchan," teased Izuku.

"Okay, that's even more '_ew, no'_."

"So, um, Kazumi—can I call you Kazumi?" Ochaco asked.

"Only if you let me call you Ochaco."

"Deal."

"Anyway, I saw that your Quirk is water-related."

"Actually…" Kazumi turned her hand to water. "My entire body is the result of my Quirk. I'm made of water and I have hydrokinesis. I can also thermoregulate the temperature of the water I use to a certain degree, no pun intended."

"That pun was totally intended," Izuku snickered.

"Yeah, it was. But, um… that's about it. Other than turning myself into a puddle, there's not much else I can do."

"That's still amazing!" Iida insisted. "If your body is made entirely of water, then you don't have to worry much about physical attacks!"

"I do, actually. My body being made of water has nothing to do with it."

"I'd still like to see more of it in action if you don't mind."

"Maybe during hero training. I heard All-Might's one of our teachers!"

"Oh, that's right! This is gonna be great!" cheered Ochaco.

* * *

"You fucking moron."

Izuku bit his lip as he heard his sister's voice.

"You broke your damn arm. Again. And you almost got yourself _killed_ blocking Kacchan's attack. It was bad enough that you passed out."

He looked over to see Kazumi sitting in a chair by his infirmary bed. Her ice-blue eyes were narrowed and her hair was steaming slightly at the ends. That was how he knew she wasn't as pissed as he thought.

"Yeah. Sorry, Kazumi."

"Moron. 'Sorry' doesn't fix your arm."

"It's like I said—I need to get control over my Quirk and this will stop."

"Izuku. You lied to me, didn't you? About how you got your Quirk."

"I…"

"It's fine. I understand why you won't tell me." The steam on her hair stopped as she sighed.

"It's not because I don't trust you!"

"I know that. You're not the type to hide things from people you trust without reason. Obviously, somebody asked you to keep quiet. So… I'm not going to pressure you to tell me yet. But if you keep getting hurt, I _will _be pressing the issue and you're gonna crack like a tennis ball under a hydraulic press." She smiled. "You and Ochaco won, by the way. Congrats."

"How did you do?"

"I was up against Ashido and Aoyama. Yaoyorozu and I won without a problem."

"That's good."

"Recovery Girl says you're clear to leave, by the way."

"Good."

Izuku got out of bed and followed his sister back to the classroom once he was ready. As soon as he did, he was accosted by his classmates who were impressed with what he'd done in the exercise. Then both he and Kazumi found out Bakugo had left. Izuku ran out to catch him while Kazumi went with him to ensure things didn't go south. She knew how sore a loser Bakugo could be.

"Kacchan, you can't just give up!" yelled Izuku.

"You hid your Quirk all that time…" Bakugo said in a low voice, slowly turning around. "And you let me think you were weak. You let your sister fight your battles for you. How stupid are you?"

"I wasn't hiding anything. The truth is… somebody gave me this Quirk." Kazumi's eyes widened. "My body can't handle the power right now. But I'm going to learn. I'm going to control it. I won't be able to become the hero I want to be until I learn how to use this borrowed power."

"Don't give me that crap! 'Borrowed power'—how stupid do you think I am?! Who the hell would do that?!"

Before Izuku could answer, All-Might came seemingly out of nowhere. He began to give a speech about pride and potential that Kazumi swore had to have come from a movie or something. Maybe a movie about superheroes?

"It doesn't matter. Deku isn't my rival, anyway. Right, Water Witch?"

"Damn straight."

"Well, then! The three of you should strive to better yourselves! Now, go home and get some rest—we have a big day tomorrow!"

"Yes, sir!" Kazumi nodded and saluted All-Might as the hero left and Bakugo did, too.

"Better ourselves…" murmured Izuku. Kazumi thought of how her brother used his newfound Quirk and then put two-and-two together.

"Wait. Izuku… did… did you get your Quirk from—"

"Shh! Not so loud!" He put his left index finger to his lips. "We'll talk at home."

And they did. Izuku explained how All-Might was injured and searching for a successor and how the Number One Hero had chosen him for the position. He told his sister about the ten months of intensive training and cleaning up the beach and even about the hair. When he was done, Kazumi was quiet. Then she looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"It's like I told you in middle school—you had everything you needed to be a hero except that one genetic detail. And now, thanks to All-Might, you have that detail you were missing."

"He asked me to keep it a secret, but you figured it out so quickly… I wasn't going to tell you until I figured out how to control it without breaking my arms."

"I'm glad you told me. Now I can really be in your corner. You're going to be the next Number One, just like you dreamed about when we were kids. Just… be careful, all right? I don't wanna lose my brother."

"I will. Thank you, Kazumi." He held out his arms (the cast had been removed before he left school) and smiled sheepishly. "Awkward sibling hug?"

"Awkward sibling hug."

They hugged each other for a moment, then as they patted each other on the back…

"Pat, pat," they said in unison.

_With Kazumi in on the secret of One For All, I had somebody at school other than All-Might who could help me figure out how to control the power. And like All-Might said, I had to help her strive to do better. Even when it was down to helping her figure out how to control the temperature of the water she used. But I didn't realize just how helpful her water abilities would turn out to be when we faced real villains for the first time. And that came sooner than either of us thought._

* * *

**So that wraps up chapter 3. I'm moving pretty fast, but I think you guys are liking this so far. I'm getting a lot of reviews and it's making me happy, which makes me write faster and write more for all of you. Every chapter of this story seems to be longer than the last.**

** Next time, we'll hit the USJ incident and start up the Sports Festival.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	4. Fear and Power

**Comment time!**

** emiya-excalibur: Yes, they are dorks. I stole that scene from Gravity Falls but I think everybody's done it at one point or another. Also, thank you very much for the idea that I will be using. Also also, I'm totally stealing 'water sister' and 'green brother' as Izuku and Kazumi's nicknames for each other.**

** pedrojunior0922: He will get Full Cowl at the same time he does in canon. However, rather than the fish pastry (because it was funny but stupid as hell) it will come from a different person.**

** And finally, The Keeper of Worlds: Thank you. I don't hear 'in spades' enough as a compliment.**

** Onto today's second chapter!**

* * *

Kazumi Midoriya did not scare easily.

From the time she'd been abandoned, she'd learned how to toughen up and defend herself until Inko took her in. Even then, she still didn't scare easily. She had to be brave for Izuku. She couldn't be scared and defend her brother against a world that hated him for a simple genetic element that he lacked. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been really and truly scared of something real. A horror movie Bakugo had snuck over to their house during a sleepover when they were five came to mind, but that hadn't been _real_.

No, right now, Kazumi Midoriya was terrified for her life. Why? She was facing real villains—real villains who were willing to kill her entire class of barely-trained heroes-to-be. If she hadn't been afraid, something would've been wrong. But at least she was with Izuku and Tsuyu and not alone. She gazed over the side of the ship at the villains who were waiting for her and her companions to make a move.

"They don't know our Quirks," whispered Izuku, smirking. "Kazumi, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah."

"What's the plan?" asked Tsuyu, crouching beside the Midoriyas.

"Kazumi, you think you can create a whirlpool?"

"I haven't tried it before. I've never been near enough water to do it."

"Then I need you to cover me. I'm about to do something—"

"Stupid and full of bravado?"

"I guess."

"I'd expect nothing less from you."

Izuku let out a yell as he leapt over the water, sending a single Delaware Smash down to blow the center away. Tsuyu jumped with Kazumi, who used her water blasts to keep the villains off Izuku while Tsuyu grabbed the lone boy of their little group. Without much issue, they landed safely beside the plaza.

And then Kazumi froze with fear.

There was a giant, lumbering beast with its brain sticking out of its head, growling and snarling as it broke Aizawa's arms like twigs. She couldn't move. Izuku saw the fear in her eyes and gasped. He knew his sister feared very little in this world so to see her like that was unnerving, to say the least. He decided to turn his attention back to the villains before realizing that the leader—the man with hands on his costume—was reaching for Kazumi. His eyes widened and he shoved Kazumi into the water, moving to land a blow to the man's gut.

Only to punch the mysterious creature instead.

It let out a roar and froze as Aizawa managed to use his Quirk to stop its own. Izuku scrambled to get out of the way, grabbing his still-frozen-with-fear sister (being made of water meant you were able to breathe in it, too) and Tsuyu and running as fast as he could.

"It's… huge…" Kazumi whispered as her brother carried her.

"It's gonna be all right," he assured her.

And within moments, quite a few villains surrounded the trio. Kazumi realized how pointless it was to rely on her brother to defend her and instead chose to shake away the fear. After all, the giant creature was nowhere near her.

Or so she thought.

She was the beast's next target and it cornered her. Once again, she was frozen with fear. She couldn't even summon any water to splash on its face to distract it for a moment.

_I haven't felt like this since… since…_

A memory played in her head—snatches of one. A man with cold, dark eyes and a scowl. A woman with white hair holding her close. And a boy's voice, telling her to hold on and not to worry. But the man reached for her and she could hear his voice.

_"Your Quirk is useless to me, you little embarrassment."_

Then there was a faint memory of her being slapped.

Her heart pounded and she braced herself for the hit.

* * *

Bakugo didn't make a habit of helping his classmates. To him, it was a free-for-all race and everybody had to work alone. But Kirishima was actually helpful in getting them out of the Earthquake Zone and they arrived in the plaza.

There, Bakugo could see Deku fighting off a couple of villains with some of their other classmates. He smirked and prepared to join the fight.

Then he heard Deku yell.

"KAZUMI!"

For a split second, Deku looked in a direction before being yanked back into the fight by the villain he was against. Bakugo turned his attention to that direction and what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

A lumbering _thing_ that could only be described as a monster was standing over Kazumi. And she wasn't fighting back. For the first time ever, Bakugo saw fear on her face. She was frozen, he realized.

_If she can't move, this thing'll kill her. It's not going to stop._

_ I have to get her out. I can't fight it with her right there!_

He launched himself forwards with the power of his explosions, praying he would make it in time. Within moments he'd reached her and scooped her into his arms bridal-style as he slid to a stop several feet away from where she'd been before.

"K-Kacchan?!" she gasped, looking up at him.

"You okay, Water Witch?" He grimaced at the gouges that the thing had put in his arm right before he'd escaped.

"I… I don't know…" She stared at her feet.

Something was bothering her. Like she was remembering something terrible.

"You better stay out of it. You obviously can't fight that thing."

"I just… it triggered a bad memory."

"You can tell your brother about it later. For now, stay out of it and—"

"I AM HERE!"

All-Might showed up and Bakugo found himself running for the exit with Kazumi still in his arms. They reached the other students with ease.

"IZUKU!" screamed Kazumi, seeing her brother rush to help All-Might.

Izuku's arm was broken again in the scuffle.

Thankfully, the pros showed up and the fight was over rather quickly after that… once All-Might had punched the thing to hell and back. And then back to hell. For good.

It was when they were outside and waiting for the bus to take them back to campus that Bakugo realized he was still carrying Kazumi. Quickly, he dropped her and she found her footing before opening her mouth to berate him. Then she stopped.

"You're hurt."

"No, I'm not. It's just a scratch."

"KACCHAN, THERE IS BLOOD ON MY COSTUME. DO NOT GO 'HOLY GRAIL' ON ME!" She reached into a pouch she had on the belt of her costume and pulled out some cloth. "Hold still for a second."

Her hand turned to water and soaked the cloth as she reached for Bakugo's injury. He let her use it to wipe away the blood and she winced, taking out some bandages and wrapping the injury in it.

"Sorry. I'm so useless… I couldn't even move against that thing."

"What the hell was going on with that, anyway?"

"Bad memory. I don't… I don't know where it came from."

Bakugo looked at the blood-soaked cloth in her hand.

_Even though you're my rival, you still treated my injury._

Mentally, he kicked that thought right out of his head and remembered that when they were kids, Kazumi had been the same way—always willing to help, carrying around that backpack with a first-aid kit inside… it wasn't the first time she'd patched him up after a fight.

_"You've gotta be more careful, Kacchan."_

_ A six-year-old Kazumi was putting a small wipe across his scraped knees._

_ "I'm the best around, Water Witch! Nobody's going to make me be careful!"_

_ She didn't respond; instead, she pulled out a bandage and put it across the scrape._

_ "You look so tough, Kacchan!" gasped Izuku as he caught sight of the bandages already on the other boy's face._

_ "Well, just because he's tough doesn't mean he can take down bigger people! We're only in first grade!"_

_ "Shut up! I can beat them!"_

_ "You need to know your limit!"_

_ "I-I agree with Kazumi!" said Izuku._

_ "Of course you would, Deku! She's always helping you when you lose against me because you're so weak! I don't need her!"_

_ "Fine! See if I ever help you again, meanie!"_

_"I'm not gonna need it, Water Witch!"_

The memory was at the forefront of Bakugo's mind as they headed back to UA. He ended up accompanying Kazumi to the infirmary to get Deku, if only to get his own wound checked out. But as they walked, he noticed her hair was starting to steam and her eyes were narrowed.

_Heh. Water Witch is angry at Deku. Never thought I'd see the day._

When they got to the infirmary, she slammed the door open and Deku jerked up to see her.

"O-oh, hey, Kazumi!"

"I _thought_ you said you were getting it under control," she growled.

"I'm trying, but it's not easy!" he fired back.

"Oh, hello, you two," Recovery Girl greeted them. "Kazumi, here to pick up your brother again."

Kazumi's hair stopped steaming.

"Yes, ma'am."

"You need to work with him on his Quirk if you can. See if you can help him not injure himself so badly."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And as for you, Mr. Bakugo, let me take a look at that arm." He sat down on a chair and Recovery Girl unwrapped the bandages. "Oh, my. Whoever dressed your wounds did a proper job. They even cleaned it with warm water first."

"That would be me, ma'am," Kazumi stated, crossing her arms as she glared at her brother.

"No matter. Let me fix this. How exactly did you sustain this injury?"

"I pulled her out of the way of an attack and ended up getting a bit of it."

"Well, if this is just a bit, I'd hate to see what that villain would've done to her if they'd hit her full-force." Recovery Girl healed the gouges and smiled. "There, good as new. A little scarring, but it'll be fine."

"Thanks."

"And as for you, Izuku, you're clear to go. I expect not to see you for a while. Kazumi, keep your brother out of trouble."

"I'll try."

The three students headed out of the infirmary and down the hall. All they had to do was pick up their belongings and head home for the day. Kazumi paused for a moment while Izuku entered the classroom first.

"Hey, Kacchan?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Thank you."

He snapped his head to look at her. She was trembling.

"That thing… it would've killed me today if you hadn't been there. I was so terrified that I couldn't even activate my Quirk. It's because of you that I'm alive. So… thank you."

"Yeah, well… you being scared is weird, so don't do it anymore, okay?!"

"I'll be fine as long as I'm not against that thing again. I'll see you tomorrow. For now, I have to get the idiot home." She disappeared into the classroom with a smile and Bakugo felt a warm sensation in his chest.

_What's happening to me?!_

* * *

A few days later, Aizawa announced in class that the annual Sports Festival was coming up and the entire class started to get pumped up. Kazumi had stars in her eyes as she thought about it during lunch while she ate with Ochaco, Iida, and Izuku.

"The Sports Festival!" she squealed. "Izuku and I watched it last year! It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!"

"You're so excited about this," laughed Ochaco.

"I can't help it! I haven't gotten to go all-out with my Quirk before. This is my chance to really test what I can do… but the combat area will probably be made of cement… so I'm stuck with my body and any moisture that's in the air."

"Aw."

"Well, isn't that cute?" Kazumi looked to see Monoma of class 1-B looking at her with a smirk. "The supposed strongest girl among the first years is going to suffer in the competition. Not to mention I heard that you _completely_ froze during the villain attack at the USJ. How is somebody like _that_ supposed to compete against the superior class B?"

"You froze?" Iida inquired, looking shocked.

"Sorry about him!" Kendo called as she dragged Monoma back to their table.

"Yeah. I froze." Kazumi sighed as she looked at her two closest friends and her brother. "I think… I think that thing triggered a bad memory from before I was abandoned."

"Abandoned?!" Ochaco gasped.

"I was abandoned when I was a toddler and had to learn to survive on my own. I actually met Mom because I picked her pocket to get enough money for a meal. I ended up getting a home, a mother, and a brother."

"That's terrible. A-about you being abandoned, I mean!"

"Yeah. But the memory I had…"

"What was it?" Izuku asked.

"It was of my father. I couldn't remember his face clearly, but I remembered him calling me an embarrassment with my Quirk and slapping me across the face. I also saw a woman I think was my birth mother and I heard a boy trying to comfort me. There wasn't much else to go on."

"I'd say it's a good thing that you're a member of the Midoriya family, then!" declared Iida.

"Thanks guys. Honestly, I think it was pure luck that they took me in. Who knows? Maybe I would've been found by some villain and taken in because of my Quirk. Or dead."

"Please don't talk like that…" sighed Izuku.

"Okay, whatever."

* * *

"ON YOUR MARKS! GET SET! GO GO GO!"

All of the first-years tried to free themselves from the doorway to the obstacle course. Kazumi sighed and turned herself into a puddle, sliding under everyone and managing to make it out front first.

"AND THE FIRST ONE OUT OF THE PILE-UP IS CLASS 1-A'S KAZUMI MIDORIYA! HOW DID SHE MANAGE THAT?!"

She was followed shortly after by several other members of her class, and several other first-years. Kazumi noted how determined Todoroki appeared to be and made a mental reminder to stay away from his ice.

Throughout the race, she, Todoroki, and Bakugo were the three front-runners. The only real challenge she ran into was the mine-field, but once she saw her brother fly over the rest of the competition and take first for himself, she was determined to beat him too. She concentrated on finding as much moisture in the air as possible (made easier and more disgusting by the sweat of those who were racing) and making a wave below her, which she rode until she was neck-and-neck with Bakugo and Todoroki, just a couple feet behind Izuku.

Izuku won, and Todoroki was in second. She and Bakugo took third and fourth, respectively.

"DAMMIT, WATER WITCH!"

"Hey! It was a _race_, wasn't it?!" She made a face at him and he snarled.

"That was _amazing_!" squealed a girl with pink hair and goggles, shoving Bakugo aside and going straight for Kazumi. "You have a water Quirk, right?"

"Right…"

"So! Have you ever considered having a pack of water attached to you so you always have a supply rather than relying on moisture or bodily fluids?"

"My entire body's made of water."

"Of course, of course, but I mean _back-up_ water so you can do that move!"

Kazumi gasped.

"That's what I should do for the one-on-one fights! Just bring some water with me so I have some extra to use!"

"That's the spirit!"

In the cavalry battle, Kazumi was convinced to join the same team as Todoroki, Iida, and Yaoyorozu and put aside the fact that she had to target her brother. She shot a jet of water at his team and blinded them for a moment while they tried to get the liquid out of their eyes, which gave her team the opening they needed.

Her team took first in the cavalry battle.

For the first round, she watched as her brother broke free of Shinso and beat the brainwasher with ease. And then it was her turn to go against Ibara of class 1-B.

"Water versus vines. Let's see how this turns out," sighed Kaminari. "Though… doesn't water help plants? Getting Ibara wet isn't going to help anything."

"I keep forgetting you guys haven't seen her in a serious fight," grumbled Bakugo. "She's got a big skillset that's a lot more than it looks. Right, Deku?"

"Right." Izuku pulled out his notebook. "Her body is made of water, meaning she can turn parts of it into that base when she needs to if she needs to dodge. That's also why she can turn into a puddle as an evasion tactic. But her main form of attack is huge jets of water or a precise blade of it, for lack of a better term. She explained that water at a high enough pressure can cut through steel."

"Whoa, seriously?!" Kirishima gasped.

"She has two other abilities attached to that. For one, she can control any liquid with her hydrokinesis, not just water. And the other is thermoregulation. She can cool down the water she uses and when she gets angry, it heats up."

"Is that why her hair steams sometimes?"

"Exactly. Every time I've seen it, she's been angry and raring for a fight of some kind. Usually against Kacchan."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm rooting for Water Witch to win this match," Bakugo stated.

"You are?"

"Yeah. I'm hoping to go against her before I crush _you_. I've never been able to go all-out against her and this is my shot to do just that."

Ibara made the first attack, her vine-hair shooting straight forward in an attempt to capture Kazumi. However, the Midoriya sister wasn't having it and sliced the vines in half.

"Oh, impressive!" Ibara gasped. "Your skills are truly something to behold!"

"I'm just getting started."

Kazumi focused on getting enough water to perform the move she wanted to do, then took her chance. She shot a spray of water powerful enough to knock Ibara backwards and out of the ring but not so powerful as to cause injury.

_"KAZUMI MIDORIYA IS THE WINNER OF THE THIRD MATCH OF THE FIRST ROUND!"_

"Told ya. The Water Witch doesn't go down easy."

In the next round, it _did_ end up being Bakugo versus Kazumi.

Izuku prepared to pray for his sister's life.

* * *

**Cliffhanger this time because I didn't want the chapter to be too long.**

** Our boy Bakugo is starting to have the feels for our girl Kazumi. And Kazumi is struggling with her daddy issues—which is understandable if you've read "Antihero" and know the truth about her lineage. But you probably guessed it from her brief memory of her birth family.**

** Also, I can already hear complaints from my readers who came from my other story featuring Kazumi: "She wasn't scared of the Nomu there! So why is she afraid here?" The answer is simple. In "Antihero", she was the adopted daughter of All For One and had to deal with Shigaraki on a daily basis. She was present when the Nomu were created and therefore had no reason to be afraid when facing one. In this story, she was raised by a loving family and didn't have to deal with Shigaraki's face on a daily basis. My other reasoning for her being afraid of the Nomu here is because it's so big, it reminds her brain of being a small child intimidated by her father.**

** If you know who her father is, you understand why.**

** Next time, Kazumi versus Bakugo and internships… as well as Kazumi helping her brother with his Quirk.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	5. Family?

**Slightly later chapter today but it's COMMENT TIME!**

** To skullcrusher3317, I apologize for releasing chapters so quickly. However, I keep getting reviews that inspire me to write more and… well, this is the result of that. Also, I'm going on a trip where I'll still be writing and publishing, just not as much.**

** Next, emiya-excalibur, yes. Thank you for your help and I hope you enjoy this chapter, too.**

** And finally to The Keeper of Worlds: I didn't realize the chapter was impressive. Thank you.**

** On with the chapter!**

* * *

"_Welcome back listeners! We're here at the UA Sports Festival, where we're about to see Katsuki Bakugo go up against Kazumi Midoriya. Now, before our match gets started, you should know that these two have a history. They grew up in the same area and they've gone to school together their entire lives. But they're far from close friends. Actually, from what I've heard, this is their first serious fight with their Quirks and I can't wait to see where it goes!"_

Ochaco emerged onto the box where the rest of 1-A was sitting and noticed Izuku looking extremely nervous.

"What's up, Izuku?"

"Kacchan's going up against Kazumi. This is gonna be big. I remember the last time they almost got into a serious fight."

"What happened?" Iida inquired.

"Our homeroom teacher stopped it before it could escalate, but that was the day I figured out she could regulate the temperature of the water she uses."

"My money's on Bakugo," Kirishima declared. "Sure, Kazumi has water, but that ain't gonna do much against explosions."

"But Kazumi can do both long-distance and short-range fighting, so if she can get close enough to Kacchan or get enough water built up she can knock him out of the ring. Of course he knows quite a few of her moves so he might be able to dodge anything she throws at him. Her evasion tactic is kind of invulnerable, though, so maybe she can use that to get close. Or he might wait for her to get close and then throw her out when she reverts back to her normal form. I'm sure she has a few tricks up her sleeve but what about Kacchan's explosions? She's never actually been hit by one, so how would that affect her water body?"

"Uh, Deku…?" Ochaco sighed as she realized he was in mumble mode again.

"How does Kazumi get him out of this state?" groaned Kaminari. "It's really annoying."

"I know," stated Yaoyorozu, grabbing her water bottle. She dumped it on Izuku's head and he yelped.

"Thanks, Yaoyorozu," he sighed. "I was mumbling again, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, you kinda were," Ochaco laughed.

"I have no idea how this match is going to go. This is the first time they've been in a serious fight using their Quirks."

"Well, that's comforting…"

Bakugo made the first move. He fired a big right hook at Kazumi, who side-stepped him and doused the fire on his fist with a quick splash of water. He let out a growl then went for a volley of ranged explosions. She just turned into a puddle on the ground before sending a jet of water his way that he narrowly evaded.

"C'mon, Water Witch!" he taunted. "Where's that fire from middle school?!"

"Fire's more you and Todoroki's thing, don't you think?" He threw a punch at her.

"You're slower than you used to be! Scared of me?"

"As if!" She threw one of her 'water blades' and he narrowly dodged it. It instead gouged the concrete.

"So, are you gonna take this seriously? Maybe you're more like Deku than I thought and you're afraid to face me."

"I'm not afraid!" She turned into a puddle and popped back up behind him, landing a solid blow to his face and making the crowd scream in approval.

"Then face me like a hero!" He noticed she had red-rimmed teary eyes—an effect of the smoke from his attacks, but he had an idea. "You know, you always were a crybaby. Not as bad as Deku, but almost." She narrowed her eyes.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you and Deku are weak, but he's weaker than you!" He landed a blow to her midsection, but she grabbed his arm and threw him like Izuku had the first day of hero training.

"Don't you _ever_ call him weak!" she yelled. He smirked.

_Bingo._

"Are you gonna fight me like a hero?"

"Don't you dare—"

"Or are you just gonna sit there and take it like your brother?"

"Shut up!"

"I wanna see the girl who almost drowned me as a kid. I wanna see the girl who challenged me because of an accidental burn on somebody else. But most of all… I wanna see the girl who played into Deku's stupid delusions about being a hero because she knew he was too weak to go anywhere."

That did it. Kazumi's hair started steaming and Bakugo felt the water vapor in the air heating up at the same time.

"C'mon!"

But to be honest, he'd never actually considered what would happen to the water Kazumi fought with when she got angry enough for her hair to steam. He should've stopped and thought 'hey, maybe steaming hair means her water will be boiling hot!' but he didn't.

And he was the first official recipient of a hot-water attack from Kazumi Midoriya.

"SHIT!" he yelped.

He had to keep her off him somehow. Her style of fighting was completely different from Deku's and Uraraka's, and he'd never gotten to see much of it before. But he had an idea.

He just continually blasted her.

It didn't work, though, and he was being pushed closer and closer to the edge of the ring. She raised her hands to deliver a jet and he saw his opening.

Bakugo grabbed her and swung her out of the ring. There were no other options.

Her feet landed outside. That was it. She'd lost.

Their first serious fight and she'd lost.

* * *

Despite Bakugo winning first place, he had very few job offers.

Kazumi felt a sense of victory as she arrived at the train station with her three friends, but that faded when she saw Iida's face. She knew he was angry about his brother. She had a brother that she cared for just as much and she knew how she'd feel if what had happened to Ingenium happened to Izuku. Still, the fact that so soon after that Iida was going to Hosu had her slightly worried. Iida may not have acted rashly… _ever_… but he was still human. He had emotions and anger just like anybody else. He wasn't a robot.

As for Kazumi, she'd gotten several offers, and she'd chosen one that was a bit odd to anybody who knew her. It was a hero by the name of Arachne—odd, because Kazumi had a thing about spiders. Namely that she didn't care for them. She wasn't _afraid_ of spiders, but she preferred to avoid them.

But her brother had an offer from All-Might's former teacher.

"What do you think Gran Torino's like?" she asked Izuku once they were in their train compartment with their luggage.

"I have no idea. But… I know All-Might's afraid of him…"

"No way!"

"You should've seen him when I was talking about it. He was shaking like I do when I…"

"Talk to Ochaco?"

"N-no! That's not what I was going to say!"

"But every time you talk to her, your face turns all red and it's so cute how you think you're good at hiding your crush on her."

"I _don't_ have a crush on her!"

"Sure you don't."

"Look, can we focus on our internships now and my _nonexistent crush_ on Uraraka later?"

"Fine. Whatever. But you can't hide things from me. I know all your secrets."

"And I know all of yours." The siblings glared at each other before they burst out laughing.

"We can't seriously threaten each other, can we?"

"Not unless it involves me breaking my arm."

"Which you're not doing this week."

"Right. Gran Torino knows about One For All, which means he might know how I can control it without the drawbacks. I haven't had any luck and All-Might doesn't have any ideas either."

"Just focus on this: we're going out on an assignment as heroes—Deku and Tsunami!"

"Yeah!"

At Arachne's agency, the spider heroine smiled as she looked at Kazumi.

"You're a very pretty young lady. And your Quirk is impressive."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Now, I understand you want to learn more about rescue than combat. I've seen you fight and you have a good handle on it."

Yep, the spider lady was a rescue hero. Threads she shot from her fingertips were used to lower herself into situations that most heroes couldn't get into. Not to mention her ability to climb up vertical surfaces made her able to carry people out.

It was no wonder Kazumi had chosen her for her internship.

But that night, as she laid in her bed, her phone went off just as she was falling asleep.

"Hello?" she yawned.

_"Oh, hi, Water Sister!"_

"Green Brother. Why are you calling so late?"

_"Well, I'm at Gran Torino's and he's already beat me into the ground trying to get me to use my Quirk properly. I can't believe I haven't asked you this before, but… do you have any ideas?"_

"On how to control your Quirk. Which nobody else in the world has except All-Might."

_"Yeah. Sorry."_

"No, it's fine. Inspiration comes from different places. A lot of my hydrokinesis is based off that old cartoon we watched as kids. You know—the one with the people who had control over the four elements?"

_"The air-bender show, right?"_

"Right. I based it on the girl in that show because her work was really impressive."

_"I've been trying. But I don't think that's the same principle as risking broken bones because you can't control your Quirk."_

"True. I don't know _what_ to tell you, Izuku, but my Quirk has always been under my control. It's my whole body, after all, and that's not exactly something you can…" She trailed off as she heard her brother mumbling to himself. "Izuku, are you listening?"

_"That's it, Kazumi!"_

"What's it?"

_"I've only been focusing my power on one part of my body and it's always at a hundred percent! But if I take inspiration from you—whose Quirk __**is**__ your body—and have power all over, then I think… I think I can reduce the backlash!"_

"Well, the percentage you're using might also be a factor, so maybe go easy—say, five percent. Don't go all out right off the bat."

_"Right. Thanks, sis."_

"No problem. And… call me if you get it figured out. Arachne's taking me to Hosu tomorrow to do joint training with Endeavor and Manual, so I might not be reachable."

_"Okay. Love you."_

"Love you, too."

* * *

Her phone buzzed as she followed Arachne towards the battle site.

_A text from Izuku, probably._

Upon checking the message, she saw that there were no real words—only a location. She knew her brother; he did _not_ send cryptic messages.

"Something wrong?" Arachne asked.

"I… I just got a location from my brother. No message, just his location. Something's wrong with him. He doesn't send weird messages like this without a reason—not to mention he's not supposed to be in Hosu right now but he is."

"Go check on him, then. Something must be wrong—he's in the hero course, too, right?"

"Same class."

"I'll handle it here."

"When you get a chance, could you send some pros to this location?" She showed it to Arachne, who nodded.

"Now go!"

Kazumi ran as fast as she could towards the location Izuku had sent her. She was half-tempted to use her wave maneuver, but she didn't want to risk missing it. As she ran around a corner, she was suddenly joined by Todoroki, who simply held out his phone as if to say he'd gotten the same message. She smiled. At least she had backup, and it was Todoroki at that.

She hadn't admitted it to anyone, but from the moment she met the half-cold half-hot hero-to-be she'd felt a connection. Not a _romantic _connection—the idea of dating him made her dry-heave when Ashido had brought it up—but some kind of unspoken bond, like a thread between them that had always been there. It was very similar to the bond she felt with Izuku, but somehow closer. Their Quirks complimented each other well despite them never having been paired up before.

But when they actually reached the alley, she almost screamed.

On the ground, Iida and Izuku were lying, not moving. She could tell they were alive, but above them stood a man who'd haunted the news for months. The man who'd put Ingenium in the hospital. The man who was going by the moniker of 'Hero Killer'.

_Stain._

"Two more wannabes have come to play?" Stain laughed once Todoroki had launched his first attack.

"Tsunami. You get the others out of here," Todoroki stated.

"Right. Don't die!" She rushed forward and Stain took out his knife, but she used her evasion tactic to get past him.

"Cowardly girl!"

She crouched by Iida, who was the closest.

"Kazumi… you have to… go…"

"Hell no! You think I'm leaving you to die?! You've got another thing coming!"

"Thanks for coming, sis," Izuku gasped.

_Wait, how am I supposed to carry Iida?! He's super-heavy in his costume!_

"KAZUMI, WATCH OUT!"

She turned just in time to see Stain coming towards her. Without time to react, he slashed his blade across her arm, making her yelp in pain. Stain then pulled his blade across his tongue, licking her blood off it and making her cringe before she found herself unable to move.

_Damn! It's just like the USJ!_

"You little coward…"

"I… will protect… my family!"

_Family._

The word struck her suddenly.

_Do I consider my classmates my family…? Is that why…?_

Before she had time to consider what to do, Stain was fighting Todoroki again… and Izuku was back on his feet.

_It's based on blood type. Izuku and I are both type O!_

As soon as she could, she rushed over to Native and managed to lift the pro hero onto her back. She had no time to fight alongside the boys. She had to get help for the man who was close to death as it was. She managed to get him out of the alley and patched up his wound before turning around to help the boys.

But then Stain threw another knife at her and it went through her side—not hitting anything vital but still causing a massive wound. She screamed in pain and Izuku's eyes widened as he realized what had happened when she went down to the ground. It gave him a surge of adrenaline that he used during the final joint attack he, Todoroki, and Iida used on Stain.

"Kazumi, are you okay?" Izuku asked, running over to her while Iida took care of restraining their opponent.

"Well, considering I was _stabbed_, I'm doing just dandy. Todoroki, I need you to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"I want you to seal up the wound."

"How can I…?"

"You stop the bleeding by cauterizing the wound. It should keep me from bleeding out before we get to a hospital." She ripped her costume enough to reveal the injury and nothing else. "Only a little bit of fire should do it."

He nodded and created a small amount of fire in his hands, which he pressed against the open wound. It hissed and burned the skin around where the blood was, but it sealed it and Kazumi was no longer bleeding. However, she was weaker because of blood loss and she found it difficult to get up, so Todoroki lifted her onto his back.

"Oh my—TSUNAMI!" gasped Arachne, running up with several other pro heroes. "What happened?"

"You kids shouldn't be here!" chided one of the others.

From there, everything went sideways as a Nomu swooped down from the sky and took Izuku. Kazumi was as shocked as anyone as Stain leapt after it, driving his knife into the thing's skull and bringing it down, declaring he would not allow a 'true hero' to die. As he stood there, laughing, nobody could move. Then he froze.

It was over.

* * *

"You four are so troublesome."

Kazumi bit her lip at Gran Torino's words.

She and the boys were in the hospital, recovering from their fight against Stain. Her wound that Todoroki had sealed had been treated with stitches to ensure it wouldn't be too troublesome, along with burn cream being applied to take care of the rushed cauterization. However, she'd been praised by the doctor who treated her for her quick thinking to stop the bleeding.

"You weren't authorized to cause harm to that villain."

"But Kazumi didn't touch him!" Izuku spoke up. "She was more focused on getting the wounded out than on fighting!"

"Smart girl. You could learn a thing from her!"

"I still didn't do much," she sighed. "I kind of just got in the way."

She sat there, stewing in that thought while the boys were chewed out by the Chief of Police and their mentors (save for Endeavor who apparently had better things to do). Todoroki spoke up that she should get credit for Native's rescue over Endeavor, which the Chief surprisingly agreed to. Endeavor would be getting the credit for stopping Stain otherwise.

And the next morning, that was the headline news.

_"The Hero Killer Stain was brought down last night by Endeavor. According to police, the criminal was attacking four young students from UA High School and the pro hero, Native. However, Native was not on the scene when Endeavor arrived due to the efforts of hero-in-training Kazumi Midoriya, who rushed the injured pro to safety and patched up his wounds before returning to attempt to save her classmates. She was injured but police say she has received treatment and will make a full recovery by the end of the week."_

Kazumi stared at her picture on screen. They'd used the photo from her student ID to show her on the news and she let out a groan. The Chief had been serious about giving her credit for Native's rescue and Endeavor the credit for stopping Stain.

"Are you all right, Kazumi?" Todoroki inquired.

"I'm fine. I'm just… bothered. After this, I'm going to have a lot more attention on me than before and… well… it's a little overwhelming." She glanced over at her brother's bed, which was empty. "Where's Izuku?"

"He went to make a phone call. Your mother stopped by earlier while you were sleeping. She thanked me for stopping your wound from bleeding."

"Well, it's thanks to her teaching me to patch up wounds when I was a kid that I did research into more severe ones. That's how I knew about cauterization."

"I never knew fire could do something like that. I've always thought of it as destructive."

"Water can be destructive, too. Even though we need water to live, it can hurt us. Drowning. Boiling. Freezing. Raise the temperature of it fast enough and it expands with the force of a bomb blast."

"And a high enough pressure can cut through steel, right?"

"Right."

Izuku entered the room with a happy expression and a blush.

"So, who'd you call?" Kazumi asked.

"I-I called Uraraka. I thought she might've seen the news and I didn't want her to worry."

"I'm the only one of us mentioned by name." She smirked. "Ooh, I know why you're blushing~!"

"W-why?!"

"Because you've never talked to a girl who wasn't a family member on the phone before!"

"KAZUMI!"

Todoroki started laughing. He'd never seen the Midoriya siblings outside of school or combat before, so seeing them interact like this was oddly comforting. Izuku spluttered about how he didn't have feelings for Uraraka while Kazumi sang out that he was a liar and needed to confront his crush.

"Wait, Todoroki can laugh?" Kazumi mock-gasped. "This is so shocking!"

"Of course I can laugh," he protested.

"I've hardly ever seen you even _smile_!"

"I rarely have reason to, but… you two make me feel like I can do it more often."

Kazumi smiled back.

And Todoroki felt that invisible string between them tighten.

* * *

**SEE EVERY CHAPTER GETS LONGER**

** Last one was 3087 words (not including notes) and this one is 3343 (not including notes).**

** Anyway, big thank you to emiya-excalibur for that phone-call between Izuku and Kazumi in the middle of this chapter. Also for their nicknames for each other (though they are awkward to use). I also apologize for the lackluster fight scene between Bakugo and Kazumi; action sequences are not my forte. I'm better with dialogue and more toned-down interactions than action.**

** I do have a request for you, however—this story needs a cover. And given my lack of art skills in drawing anything but hearts and flowers, I'm reaching out to my audience to create this cover for me. I will give you full credit and full creative freedom when it comes to the cover, as long as it features Kazumi, Izuku, and Todoroki. Feel free to add in Bakugo and Ochaco, too! To send it to me, just go to my Tumblr (kamijeceleek) and send it through there.**

** (also low-key want a cover for "Antihero" but one thing at a time)**

**Next time: Finals, training camp, and Camino Ward.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	6. Exams and Capture

**COMMENT TIME!**

** To emiya-excalibur. Thank you for that. I have a younger sister and we fight like cats and dogs a lot of the time but we still love each other. I think it's awesome you can picture you and your sibling in place of Izuku and Kazumi.**

** To The Keeper of Worlds. My fight scenes are bad. And her bond with Todoroki—wait, you read "Antihero"! You know why she has a bond with Todoroki! But I love you anyway.**

** And finally, to skullcrusher3317. Sorry I misunderstood. My update speed is fast because I have consistent reviews coming in and it makes it easier to write.**

** Now, on with the chapter!**

* * *

"Finals are coming up."

Kazumi had a blank look on her face as she and Izuku walked towards the station with Iida and Ochaco like they did every day.

"You okay, Kazumi?" Ochaco asked her friend.

"I did the worst of the four of us on the mid-terms, in case you forgot."

"You didn't do _that_ badly—" Iida started before Kazumi cut him off.

"I ranked number _17._ The only people who ranked lower were Aoyama, Ashido, and Kaminari.

All three of the others immediately understood her worry.

"You'll have me to help you study," offered Izuku.

"And we'll help, too," Ochaco added.

"Yes! We want you to do your best, Kazumi!" Iida declared.

"Thanks guys. How about we all get together to study this weekend at me and Izuku's place?"

"You and… Deku's house…?" Ochaco and Izuku's cheeks each turned pinker than usual, which Iida didn't notice but the other girl in their group _certainly_ did.

"Yeah! It'll be great!"

"That sounds fine to me," Iida agreed. "I will await your address."

"Well, this is our train!" Kazumi pushed Izuku onto it while he was mumbling and blushing—something about needing to clean his room and making sure everything was tidy for Ochaco…

Once they were onboard, she splashed water on his face and he yelped.

"Turn mumble mode off, please."

"S-sorry, was I mumbling?"

"Yes. I know you're head-over-heels for Ochaco, but you can hang out with her at our house for a day or two, can't you?"

"Of course I can! A-and I'm not head-over-heels for her!" She giggled.

_Should I tell him Ochaco likes him back…?_

_ Nah. Not yet. Let him stew in his crush a little longer. It's hilarious._

When they got home, Inko had already made dinner—Izuku's favorite, katsudon.

"So, how was school today, sweetie?" she asked Kazumi.

"School was fine. Finals are coming up and we're going to get together with a couple friends to study."

"I know how upset you were about your midterm grade. Izuku, you'll help her study, right?"

"Of course. And I'm finally getting the hang of my Quirk!"

"That's fantastic! And what about Katsuki?"

"What about him?"

"Yeah, what about Kacchan?" inquired Kazumi.

"Are you still arguing with him?"

"Mom, I'm his rival and primary sparring partner. We're always fighting and arguing about stupid stuff."

"Well, it's just funny to me that it's been like that since you three were little. I remember Mitsuki and I used to joke that you and Katsuki were like a married couple with how you argued and that the two of you were going to date when you got older."

"WHAT?!" Kazumi's face turned red and her hair steamed.

(Izuku added a notation to Kazumi's page: _Water also seems to be heated when she's flustered or embarrassed._)

"I used to think the same thing," Izuku teased.

_This is payback for your Uraraka jokes._

"W-we hate each other! Besides, he's annoying and stupid and he's always picking on Izuku!"

"It was a joke, honey. Lighten up a little. I know Katsuki isn't your type. You need somebody more level-headed that you just haven't met yet."

"Thank you."

Meanwhile, at the Bakugo household…

"You still training with Kazumi?" Mitsuki asked her son as he practiced throwing punches at his training bag.

"Of course. She's the only person in our class who can keep up with me."

"You sure it's not because the two of you act and fight just like a married couple?"

Katsuki missed a punch to glare at his mother, only to be hit by the bag swinging back around. He smacked it back and growled.

"Water Witch and I are rivals! Nothing more, nothing less! I hate her and she hates me and that's all it's ever gonna be!"

"Fine, if you say so." Katsuki was satisfied and returned to working the bag as his mother began to leave. "But I'm also saying that the two of you could give Inko and me some pretty cute grandkids!"

"GET OUT, HAG!"

Once again, he was smacked with his own punching bag.

* * *

Ochaco stepped off the train and onto the platform. She glanced around, trying to find either Deku or Kazumi. Neither of them were immediately noticeable and she wandered around for a bit, eventually bumping into Iida who was doing the same thing.

"Those two are running late," he grumbled. "Honestly, they could be more on time…"

Ochaco's phone went off; evidently, Kazumi had changed her ringtone again. This time, it was the theme from some old adventure game that had been extremely popular. Something about an ocarina?

"Hello?" she asked.

_"Hey! Where are you?"_

"I'm at the station. I just bumped into Iida and we're looking for you and Deku."

_"Well, we're actually outside. Hang on—go to the information desk and we'll meet you there. Guess I should've been more clear. Sorry, Ochaco!"_

"It's fine."

_"You're staying the night, right?"_

"Yep! Got my overnight bag and everything."

_"Great! See you in a minute!"_

Kazumi and Deku were waiting at the information desk and Ochaco almost choked at the sight of them. Deku wore a white T-shirt and a pair of jean shorts, while Kazumi had a pair of denim capris and a pink shirt. Her yellow purse hung across her body, resting at her left hip. Not exactly how Ochaco had thought the two of them would dress outside of school, but it was still nice to see them in a different, more casual setting.

"You must be more clear with your instructions!" Iida admonished Kazumi.

"Yeah, I know. C'mon. It's not far to the apartment from here."

The neighborhood was fairly nice, Ochaco noted as they passed through. Not fancy, just… nice. Kids played in the park and one ran up to Kazumi to ask for an autograph.

"Why do you want an autograph?" she asked the little girl, kneeling so they were at eye-level.

"Because you saved a pro hero even though you're still in school!" the girl gushed. "You're so cool!"

"Well, my friend Iida here ranked in the top four during the UA Sports Festival, and my friend Ochaco nearly took out Katsuki Bakugo with a meteor shower."

"WHOA!" The little girl looked overwhelmed on who to pick, so all four of them (even Deku, who Kazumi cited as being an inspiration as a hero) ended up giving her an autograph and they continued on to the apartment building where Deku and Kazumi lived.

"Mom, we're home," called Kazumi as she unlocked the door and opened it. Ochaco removed her shoes as Iida did the same and Deku closed the door behind him.

"Oh, hello, sweetie! Did you and Izuku find—"

A woman with green hair came around the corner as she was talking and cut herself off upon seeing Ochaco. Her eyes filled with tears and she smiled.

"Oh, who are they?"

"These are our friends from school," Deku stated. "Tenya Iida and Ochaco Uraraka…"

"Mom, are you okay?" Kazumi asked worriedly.

"MY BABIES BROUGHT FRIENDS HOME!" the woman gushed, running forwards and hugging both her children.

"Can't… breathe…" Kazumi gasped.

"All of you come into the kitchen. I can make you something to eat while you study!" She smiled at the newcomers. "I'm Inko Midoriya. Feel free to just call me Inko!"

"Thanks," Deku told their mother while Kazumi still looked a little dazed.

As Ochaco walked towards the kitchen, she saw that two of the three doors to one side were labeled. One had an All-Might sign on it that said 'Izuku' and the other had a hand-painted sign that said 'Kazumi' in a fancy script with water designs around it.

_Those must be their rooms. Cute._

"We should begin with our weakest subjects. Kazumi, as you scored the lowest of the four of us, you should be the first we work with," Iida explained as they sat down at the table.

"M-math…" she mumbled, looking sheepish.

"Then we shall begin with that!"

Ochaco was better in math than her water-powered friend, so she half-paid attention and instead her eyes were drawn to a picture on the wall. In the picture, a green-haired little boy wearing an All-Might onesie was striking a triumphant pose alongside a little girl with hair like water wearing a rabbit onesie.

_Oh. My. God. They were so cute!_

Other pictures—Deku as a baby and one of Inko hugging her daughter—stuck out to her, but the one that she noticed the most featured Izuku, Inko, and Kazumi standing together in dressier clothes. Deku and Kazumi couldn't have been older than four and Kazumi was holding up a certificate of some kind. And there were happy tears in her eyes.

"Uraraka!" She was snapped back to reality by Iida's voice. "I said, since you scored next-lowest, it's your turn."

"S-sorry!"

"You were looking at the pictures on the wall, weren't you?" Kazumi asked.

"I was. The one of you, Inko, and Deku caught my eye…" Kazumi grinned.

"Our first family photo," Deku said with a smile. "That was the day Mom officially adopted Kazumi. That's what the certificate is."

"That's… heart-warming," Iida commented. "Your family is certainly close."

"Yeah. Kazumi and I actually met because Kacchan was picking on me and she soaked him from head to toe. She didn't even know my name and she was already trying to protect me."

"And I kept protecting him up until we got to UA," added Kazumi. "Then he kinda figured out how to protect himself."

Ochaco was intrigued by this.

Kazumi Midoriya. A girl with little memory of her life before abandonment, left on the streets by a father who saw her Quirk as useless, just happened to pick the pocket of a kind woman who took her in as a daughter. And in doing so, that little girl found a brother who supported her and that she could protect and together they found their way to a much larger group—a group that Ochaco was honored to be a part of.

* * *

"Thank you for the food, Miss Inko."

"No problem, Ochaco dear! You and Kazumi enjoy your sleepover."

Iida had already gone home, promising to be back the next day to help study more. Deku had disappeared into his room to do… something. Ochaco wasn't sure what it was, though.

"So… what do girls do during sleepovers?" asked Kazumi as they sat down in her room.

"You don't know?"

"I've never had female friends before. I grew up with the boys."

"Oh. Well, I guess we talk about them? Or we talk about something else?"

"Why? Is there a _particular_ boy you have your eye on?"

"N-no! Nobody!"

"Okay. I already know who it is." She leaned in right by Ochaco's ear and lowered her voice. "_It's my brother."_

"W-what?!" Kazumi pulled away with a smirk.

"You turn into a stammering mess around him and you blush so freaking much when he compliments you. It's adorable!"

"W-well… what about you? And Bakugo?"

"Not gonna happen. He's an asshole."

"But he's seemed… gentler with you lately."

"Ochaco, trust me, he ain't gentle with anybody. Especially not me."

Ochaco frowned.

_Apparently Bakugo is dense. I should've figured that._

_ But Kazumi is, too._

Later, Kazumi fell asleep on her bed, a book on the history of hero laws dangling from her hand. Ochaco took the book and set it on Kazumi's nightstand, but she was having trouble following her friend's lead.

_A crush… on Deku?_

She needed some water.

Ochaco left Kazumi's room and tip-toed down the hall to the kitchen, where she proceeded to try and figure out where to find a glass in the cabinets. Now she wished she'd asked Kazumi that earlier… and she was half-tempted to wake her best friend up to ask now.

"Uraraka?"

She whirled around to see Deku standing there in a t-shirt and exercise shorts.

"Oh, did I wake you up?" she whispered.

"No. I was up studying still. Why are you up?"

"I couldn't sleep. Meanwhile, Kazumi's a freaking rock right now…"

"I know. Just don't wake her up. She hates it when people do that."

Ochaco giggled.

"Um… where are the glasses? I wanted a drink of water."

"Oh, here." He reached over her shoulder and opened a cabinet to reveal the objects she was looking for. Their eyes met for a moment and he retracted his hand quickly, his cheeks flushing slightly in tandem with hers.

"T-thanks!"

"No problem!"

They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Deku coughed.

"Well, I'm going back to my room now! Night, Uraraka."

"Night, Deku!"

She was back to her thoughts about him, intensified by their interaction.

_I mean, he's sweet. Considerate. Strong. Brave. Smart. And he's really cute—_

_ Dammit. I __**do**__ have a crush on Deku!_

_ What do I do?!_

She'd leave it for another time, that's what.

* * *

After passing exams, all that was left to do was get ready for the training camp. Kazumi was invited to the school pool along with the other girls and they were doing stretches when the boys showed up. Apparently, Kaminari had also gotten the boys permission to use the pool for 'endurance training'. But based on his expression when he saw the girls, she knew that he'd only wanted to see them in their swimsuits—bikinis, not the school swimsuits they had on.

"I'm gonna start laps, if you guys don't mind," Kazumi told the girls.

"No, go ahead," Ochaco insisted. "Water's your element, after all."

"Don't even need to come up for air. See you in a little bit!"

She dove into the pool and disappeared, much to the shock of everyone there.

"D-did your sister just completely vanish?!" Kaminari gasped at Izuku.

"She likes to become 'one with the water' while she swims," he replied. "So we're probably not actually going to see her for a while. It's been like that since we were kids. But that also means that trying to beat her in any kind of swimming race is pointless."

"You tried it?" Tokoyami inquired.

"Nope. I knew I didn't have a shot. But Kacchan… um…"

"He almost drowned trying to beat me and I had to save his ass." Kazumi poked her head out of the water, making the guys closest to her jump. Only her head was visible, the rest of her body being part of the water.

"Dammit, Kazumi!" Kaminari yelped.

"Jeez, sorry. Buncha pansies…" She descended back into the water, disappearing again.

Of course Bakugo chose twenty minutes later to show up and start talking smack to Izuku while Kirishima held him back. The hardening hero also happened to notice that one member of the class seemed to be… absent.

"Hey, Deku, where's your sister?"

"In the pool."

"She's doing that damn cheating tactic again," grumbled Bakugo. "Bet I could beat her now that I'm allowed to use my Quirk!"

"Try it, you jerk! I can still kick your ass!"

"YOU'RE ON, WATER WITCH!"

"Oh, boy, here we go…" sighed Izuku.

"Who wants to bet she's gonna have to save him from drowning?" Ashido called.

Every member of their class raised their hands as Bakugo made his way to the starting block. Kazumi climbed out and got on top of the one next to him as Yaoyorozu made a whistle, which she blew to start the race.

And, as predicted, Kazumi was sitting at the other end by the time Bakugo got there.

"DAMMIT! REMATCH!"

"Kacchan, when will you learn I can't be beaten in the water?"

"I SAID REMATCH, DAMMIT!"

"No, you said 'dammit, rematch.' There's a difference. How about you race the other boys? I'm done with swimming for now, anyway."

She walked over to the other girls.

"Wow, she's something else…" Kaminari commented.

"Electricity and water don't mix, buddy," Kirishima sighed, patting him on the shoulder. Izuku looked slightly disturbed.

The rest of their time at the pool was spent doing races between the boys, with the final one being set up to be Bakugo, Todoroki, and Izuku going head-to-head.

But they were stopped by Aizawa, who said their pool time was up.

Oh, well…

* * *

"This is going much differently than I thought it would."

"Ya think?!"

"Shut up and keep walking."

"How about you stop being a bitch?!"

Kazumi groaned at her misfortune. It appeared her luck with partners had run out at finals (she'd gotten Sero as a partner, even though he failed) and now, for the training camp, she'd been paired up with Bakugo of all people. _Freaking. Bakugo._ Meanwhile, her poor brother had been left alone. And then to top it off, some villains found the training camp and set an attack, separating her and Bakugo from _literally everybody else._

She was lost in the woods with her rival.

And he was bitching about it every step of the way.

"You know what?! You _suck_ at navigating!"

"I don't see _you_ coming up with any suggestions, Kacchan!"

"I say we turn around and go back the way we came!"

"Uh, not with the fucking _poison gas_!"

"We can deal with it later!"

"What, _breathing_?!"

Suddenly, a man—if you could call it that—lumbered into view. His mouth was stretched open grotesquely as he made clear his desire for flesh. Kazumi gagged at the sight of him while Bakugo sparked up his hands.

"Stay behind me!"

"FLESH!"

The whatever-it-was lunged for Bakugo and the blonde found it difficult to get a reading on him. He was too fast, too unpredictable, and Bakugo felt his arm being grasped as the man lowered his mouth to take a bite… and stopped. Frozen. But not like it was when Todoroki used his ice; no, this was unnatural. The man trembled as his fingers were forced off of Bakugo's arm and he was sent backward into a tree.

"What the hell…?"

"What did I just…?!" He snapped his head to look at Kazumi, who was staring at her hands in horror. "I just… I just controlled his… his blood…"

"Hey, snap out of it!" He shook her but she was too horrified.

The thing ran for them again but this time Bakugo was ready as he blasted the thing's face and pummeled it into the ground with a surge of adrenaline. He then turned his attention back to Kazumi, who was still shaking.

"Water Witch, c'mon! We gotta go!"

"I'm… I…"

"Dammit!" He scooped her up bridal-style like he'd done at the USJ and started running.

"I did that. I controlled his body. Oh my god. I can never be a hero."

"Shut up! That wasn't intentional and you know it!"

Unfortunately, whatever the hell the thing had been wasn't done with them yet. It came after them and Bakugo saw a fire in the distance getting bigger as he ran with Kazumi in his arms. Very narrowly, he dodged the fire and watched it hit the thing and knew where it had come from.

"WATCH IT, ICY-HOT! YOU ALMOST HIT US!"

"I apologize," Todoroki stated, coming out of the shadows. "What happened to Kazumi?"

"Turns out her Quirk extends to blood. She got that thing off me and she hasn't been able to move on her own since."

Not too long after, they ran into Dark Shadow, who took down the thing once and for all before Todoroki and Bakugo shrank Tokoyami's Quirk down to a manageable size. They met up with Yaoyorozu, Shoji, and Izuku, who was severely injured. Bakugo knew exactly how to snap Kazumi out of her shocked state.

"Hey, Water Witch. Your dumbass brother got his arms broken again."

"What?!" She snapped her head towards Shoji and Bakugo let her down. "IZUKU, WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS!"

"Now's not the time, sis!"

"He was trying to protect somebody else," Shoji defended. "Mandalay's nephew."

"And this guy better have broken his arms or so help me—"

"He did. He forced me beyond my limit," Izuku explained.

"We'd better get moving—hey what happened to that weird guy?"

"Oh my—have you _not_ been paying attention?!" Bakugo growled. "He's done!"

"Oops. Well, we'd still better get moving and find the others."

Suddenly as she ran, everything went dark.

The next thing she saw was Shigaraki.

"Ah, the Midoriya sister is awake."

"Where am I?" she asked, struggling against what bound her. Her back pressed against something warm and firm, her hands kept powerless by the cuffs she was in.

"You're at our headquarters. And you're not alone."

She realized at that moment that she was cuffed to Bakugo.

_Great. My worst nightmare. Thanks, Shigaraki._

"We have an offer for you two. Both of you have great potential as villains. Between your Quirk's more unique properties and his temperament, you could rule all of Japan. What do you say?"

"I have two words. Fuck. Off."

"Fuck off with that bullshit!" agreed Bakugo. "You really think we're gonna join the League? You've got another thing coming."

"Well, I must admit you and Miss Midoriya make quite the power couple—"

"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!" they yelled in unison.

"Is she _really_ Izuku's sister?" whined a girl with blonde hair. "She's _so_ much less cute than him. But her Quirk is interesting. Imagine how much blood I could get with her forcing it out of people!"

"Get away from me."

Both of them knew they were low on options.

So the best one was to work together.

* * *

**WHEEE ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE!**

** So I was thinking while I was writing this chapter and I realized I could call the Kazumi/Bakugo ship 'Water Bomb'. Yes? No?**

** Whatever.**

** I mentioned it last chapter (or Kazumi did) that her hydrokinesis is based off the water-bending from **_**Avatar: The Last Airbender**_**. And in this chapter, our girl blood-bends and is horrified by her own power.**

** Also more Bakugo carrying her because why not**

** Next time it's a rescue attempt and we get to see Bakugo and Kazumi work as a fucking team instead of trying to kick each other's ass.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	7. Rescue

**Comment time it's comment time**

** To emiya-excalibur—yes, I know blood-bending is creepy. But as soon as I thought of basing her hydrokinesis off water-bending, I knew I had to make a reference to it at some point. Spoiler: that will not be the last time Kazumi uses blood-bending in this story.**

** To Dark Mystique—she'll find out eventually. I'm still trying to figure out how to do the reveal so it doesn't come out of nowhere and so it's satisfying to all parties involved.**

** And to The Keeper of Worlds—yes, Izuku will lose his mind. And the bonds are different here because of the circumstances being different. As for the teasing, I like the way I write it, too.**

** On with the chapter!**

* * *

"Oh you're awake! Thank goodness!"

Izuku let out a shuddering breath as he rested his eyes on the members of his class.

Five of them were conspicuously absent.

"W-where's Kazumi? Normally she'd be here, swearing and berating me because I broke my arms again."

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly, shuffling their feet.

"Well… Yaoyorozu's undergoing treatment for her wounds, and Hagakure and Jiro haven't woken up yet. You know what happened to Bakugo…" Kirishima stalled.

"Where's. My. Sister?"

"The League took her, too!" Ochaco blurted.

"Why?!"

"I have no idea—"

"Because she discovered something about her Quirk while defending herself against Moonfish," explained Todoroki. "She can control human blood while it's still inside a person. That's why Bakugo was carrying her when they found us. She was so horrified by what she'd done that she couldn't move."

"Kazumi… they must want to use her Quirk to control people… but they'll have a hell of a time getting her to cooperate. Especially if Kacchan's been captured, too."

"I'm pretty sure they'll kill each other," sighed Kaminari.

"No. If they have to work together, Kazumi and Kacchan actually make a good team. Their Quirks complement each other well and they've known each other long enough to cover each other's weaknesses. I'm more worried about one of them getting killed because they're both so hot-headed."

He let out a yell.

"DAMMIT! I can't believe—she's protected me since we were little kids, and now… now I couldn't do the same for her! I failed her!"

"You _didn't_ fail her! We all failed _them_! I heard Bakugo was in trouble and _I just sat there_!" Kirishima snapped. "If I hadn't, maybe I could've grabbed Bakugo and your sister!"

An argument broke out among the remaining members of 1-A about whether or not they'd use Yaoyorozu's tracking device to go and find Bakugo and Kazumi. Kirishima urged Izuku to come with him for the rescue, while Tsuyu pointedly said that it was a bad idea and they should just wait for the pros to do it. Izuku was too busy thinking it over.

_I have no doubt that Kacchan and Kazumi can take care of themselves for a bit, but they can't use their Quirks to cause harm. That puts them at a disadvantage. Then again, Kazumi's been working with Uraraka on hand-to-hand combat. She might just be able to fight off anybody except Shigaraki, but I know he creeps her out to no end. Kacchan won't let anything happen to her even though they hate each other. And she won't let him get hurt, either. If anything, they'll stall until somebody gets there to help them and then book it out of there. They'll probably be in restraints, though, and the League won't be willing to let them go easily. All they can do is try to buy themselves time. I really hope that they do work together; otherwise, it'll be a bad scene all around. Still, I think… I think they're gonna need help getting out._

_Please be safe…_

* * *

Kazumi sighed as soon as she was uncuffed from Bakugo. They remained back-to-back, though, if only because they were trying to make sure they were safe. Bakugo lowered his voice as he whispered to her.

"You got a plan?"

"Nothing yet. You?"

"Nope. Stall for time?"

"Yeah."

"You two can flirt later!" Shigaraki insisted. "Focus on our offer. You can easily take over the League working together. And with power like yours, you can take the rest of Japan!"

"Like _hell_ we're joining you!" Bakugo yelled, sparking up his hands. Kazumi turned hers to water with the same fire in her eyes as her hair began to steam.

"Yes… give into that anger…"

There was a knock at the door. They all looked towards it in confusion.

"Pizza-la, Camino store!" called a voice from the other side.

"I didn't order a pizza…" muttered Shigaraki.

The door blew off its hinges to reveal All-Might and several other pros. Kazumi and Bakugo smirked at each other, knowing that they now had an out as Kamui Woods restrained the members of the League present and Kurogiri was incapacitated.

"Go!" she hissed at him. They started to run, but as soon as they did, Kazumi was turned to gray sludge before Bakugo's eyes.

"KAZUMI!" yelled Bakugo, his voice wracked with desperation as the same happened to him.

The next thing he knew, he was kneeling on the ground, coughing as Kazumi did the same next him. She was panting heavily, but he glanced at her and saw that emotion in her eyes that he hated to see on her.

_Fear._

"All For One…" she whispered, her voice raspy.

He followed her gaze to see what could only be described as a monster.

"Katsuki Bakugo. And Kazumi Midoriya. Your Quirks will be useful."

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked, launching to her feet and grabbing Bakugo's hand.

"So you know of me?"

"All-Might explained it to me. You steal other people's Quirks and claim them as your own because it's a sick game to you!" Bakugo followed her lead as All For One approached.

"Come now. We don't have to fight."

"I AM HERE!"

All-Might popped up out of nowhere and All For One let out a sigh.

"I will deal with you children later."

The rest of the League, it appeared, had different ideas. They launched themselves at the two heroes-in-training and Bakugo smirked.

"Cover my back and I'll cover you."

"You got it, Explosion."

Kazumi shot a spray of water directly into Toga's face, making her whine and then rush towards them again. When Twice got near them, Bakugo grabbed Kazumi's hand and they used the centrifugal force of him swinging her to kick the villain back.

"Ow! That hurt, lady!" Twice snapped. "A most brilliant non-Quirk assisted attack, you two."

"That guy is Deadpool, I swear to God," muttered Kazumi.

"On your right!" Bakugo snapped. She elbowed the guy who was sneaking up behind her and felt him grab her as she tried to blast him away with a jet of water. Bakugo exploded an attack by the guy's face, sending him flying.

"Thanks, Kacchan!"

"Back-to-back!"

She nodded and they had all their sides covered by pressing their backs against each other. Her hair started to steam.

"That shit hurts, you know," Bakugo laughed.

"That's the point."

But no matter how much they had covered, it was a never-ending assault from all sides by the members of the League. Both of them were starting to be exhausted and Bakugo noted that All-Might was holding back because they were there.

_How do we get out of here?_

"KACCHAN!"

Deku's voice broke through the air and the two formerly-captured UA students looked up to see what appeared to be him, Iida, Kirishima, and Uraraka flying overhead. An idea came into the explosive blonde's mind and he grinned.

"Water Witch, get on my back and hold on tight! Don't let go no matter what!"

"Right!"

She got onto his back, locking her legs around his hips and her arms around his shoulders, and he chose to ignore how warm she was as he boosted them upwards, away from those who were attacking them. They flew through the air, Bakugo occasionally boosting them until he managed to grab Kirishima's hand and Kazumi grabbed Deku's.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Bakugo yelled with a smirk.

"DEKU, YOU SHOULD BE IN THE HOSPITAL!" Kazumi added.

They landed a few minutes later, just a block away from a busy district, and Uraraka lost her lunch in nearby bushes. Kazumi patted her friend on the back and held her hair so nothing would get in it. Once that was done, Kazumi felt a pair of arms around her. It was her brother with tears in his eyes and still with bandages wrapping his arms.

"I'm so glad you're safe," he told her. "I…"

"It wasn't your fault. I was out of it and I got distracted as a result. But hey, that was a great rescue… and I'm cuffing you to your bed at home until your arms heal completely."

"Sis!"

"Just kidding."

"We have to go meet up with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu anyway."

"They're here, too?!"

"We only found you because Yaoyorozu put a tracker on one of the Nomu at camp. That's how we got to the warehouse."

"That was a warehouse?"

"Let's move!" Iida declared, and they all nodded.

Pedestrian traffic had completely halted on the street as everyone watched the giant screens. Kazumi looked up and realized the news was broadcasting All-Might's fight against All For One. Her breathing hitched. This was bad. All-Might was in his weaker form already. And All For One was the reason All-Might had looked for a successor. All For One had made All-Might unable to fight like he once had. And…

She looked to Izuku, who looked horrified.

_All-Might gave One For All to my brother, meaning that he no longer has the full extent of its power… and he's weaker now. He's weaker than he was when he fought All For One last time, but so is All For One!_

"KICK HIS ASS, ALL-MIGHT!" she yelled along with the crowd.

And then… there was smoke and dust and silence.

When it cleared, All-Might was victorious and All For One was lying on the ground.

He'd won.

The crowd cheered at the victory of the Symbol of Peace, but as they began to dissipate, All-Might pointed at the news camera that was trained on him.

_"Now…"_ he stated, his voice reverberating through the crowd. _"I have used the last of what I had left. Now… it's your turn."_

Kazumi again looked to Izuku and saw tears in her brother's eyes. She knew what All-Might had meant—that it was Izuku's turn to be the hero who villains feared enough to stay in the shadows, that her brother was meant to take All-Might's place among heroes. And she knew that Izuku was terrified out of his mind.

But she'd be there supporting him every step of the way.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay, sweetie?"

"Mom, I'm fine. They didn't actually hurt me."

"I'm sorry, it's just… you don't get injured as frequently as your brother so I worry."

Izuku sighed as he listened to his mother and sister talk.

After what had happened, they'd taken Bakugo and Kazumi to the police station and Kazumi had just been cleared to go home by the Chief a few hours earlier. And she'd come home to Inko fussing over her instead of Izuku for once. It was understandable, given what had happened, and he knew all his sister wanted to do was get some sleep and hope for things to go back to normal soon.

But his talk with All-Might had confirmed it.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

Kazumi's Quirk had developed and she was terrified of it. All-Might was officially retired. Izuku's arms couldn't take any more damage or he'd lose use of them for good. Camino Ward had been destroyed, the League scattered, and All For One was in prison. But Shigaraki was still at large.

_Dammit!_

There was a knock at the door and Inko stopped fussing over Kazumi long enough to answer it.

"All-Might?!" she gasped. Izuku bolted upright and saw his teacher in the doorway.

"Hello, ma'am. There's something I need to speak with you and your children about regarding security at UA."

"Oh, come in! Come in!"

Kazumi was sitting at the kitchen table, her head down on the wood surface as All-Might entered the room.

"How are you feeling, Kazumi?" he asked.

"Drained, but all I need is some sleep."

"That's good." Inko led him into the living room and Kazumi followed, sitting down on the couch next to her brother.

"What's this about?" she inquired with a yawn.

"Well, in an effort to increase security for our students in light of what happened at the training camp, we're implementing a new system at the school. A dormitory system. What I am asking is for you to give permission for your children to move onto campus and live there for as long as they attend school at UA High."

Inko was silent.

"You should've gotten a notice—"

"I did." Her voice was unusually cold.

"Mom?" Izuku spoke up.

"I was so _proud_ that both my children got into UA. But since then, Izuku has been getting hurt so much more often than he ever has before. And my daughter—in the past _two months_—has been stabbed, burned, and kidnapped. So… I'm considering pulling them out of UA."

"WHAT?!" Kazumi yelped, suddenly wide-awake.

"But Mom, yesterday you said—"

"I know what I said, but I've been thinking about it and… as much as I want to support you both, I can't keep seeing you get hurt. I can't keep seeing your sister angry with you for your injuries. There are other hero courses out there besides UA."

Kazumi bit her lip and Izuku noted the tears forming in her eyes. He knew the reason _she_ wanted to stay at UA—their classmates. She'd confided in him that class 1-A felt like her family and that they made her feel like her family wasn't so small anymore. If they left UA, she'd have to start over and she'd be terrified that she'd lose that new school, too.

"Transfer _me_ out of UA but let Kazumi stay," he told his mother.

"What?"

"Izuku?" Kazumi gasped.

"Kazumi's never had much family besides us. She told me that our class has made her family so much bigger and I know it would hurt her more to leave them than it would hurt me. So let her stay at UA. Transfer me if you want."

Kazumi burst into tears as she buried her face in her brother's shoulder, hugging him at the same time. Inko went over and placed a hand on her daughter, trying to comfort her.

"Mrs. Midoriya," All-Might stated, catching the attention of the family as he bowed. "Please, allow your children to stay at UA. Your daughter needs her classmates and… Izuku is the one I've selected as my successor. He is to be the next Symbol of Peace, and there is nobody else who could quite fulfill that role the way he does. I promise I will do my best to take care of him and ensure he doesn't do anything as stupid as he's done previously. And I know Kazumi will help hold me to that."

Inko took a deep breath, then nodded.

"Okay. They can both stay."

* * *

Kazumi smiled as she reached her dorm room. Already, the boxes she'd sent of things for her room had arrived and it was time to unpack. She started with the clothes and hung up her shirts and the three dresses she owned in the closet.

"Hey, Water Witch," a voice said from the doorway. She looked to see Bakugo leaning against the door frame."

"Hey, Kacchan. You unpacked already?"

"Yeah. Didn't bring much. Unlike you."

"Well, excuse me for wanting to make this room my own." She puffed out her cheeks as she finished with the box of clothes and reached for the next one. Upon opening it, she let out a gasp.

"What's wrong?"

"Mom… she packed my photo album."

"Your photo album?" He crouched next to her as she held it up.

The cover of the album was a dark forest green with a gold spine. From what he could tell, much of the book was filled and it was precious to her.

"She started it when I was little and she'd just adopted me. And as I got older, I took over putting in the pictures and made it mine."

"Huh." She held it away as he reached for it. "Hey! I'm not gonna burn it!"

"Sorry, but prior experience tells me not to trust you in regards to personal belongings of other people."

"Well, see you later then, Water Witch."

He stood back up and left the room. She smiled at the album again and put it on her desk before moving on to her bedsheets. Posters went onto the walls, her alarm clock onto the nightstand, and her picture of the day she was adopted went right beside the clock. There were four copies of it—one was back with Inko, one belonged to Izuku, there was one in her photo album, and the last one she'd just put on her nightstand.

Her room finished, she stood back and took in what she'd accomplished.

A knock sounded at her door.

"Hey, Kazumi! We're gonna have a coolest-room contest with the boys!" Ashido called.

"Coming!"

And Kazumi was not really impressed with anyone's room but Todoroki's. Then it was suggested that the girls' rooms be added to the mix and she found herself hiding her photo album with her body for some unknown reason.

At least, until the other girls decided that Kazumi's room was the best place to hold an impromptu sleepover. She reluctantly agreed and that was how she found herself playing host to her second sleepover ever. Hagakure was the one to find the photo album and suggested they all look through it, which Kazumi agreed to as well on the condition that the photos not be spread around the dorms.

"I remember that picture," Ochaco commented, looking at the first one in the album. It was Kazumi's adoption-day photo.

"Yep. The day I had a family for real. I was so happy that I cried and long story short—I've developed the same crying as Mom and Izuku."

"Is that Bakugo?" laughed Ashido, pointing at a picture of a four-year-old Kazumi and Izuku with a young blonde kid.

"Yep. That was on adoption day, too. His mom dragged him down to the courthouse and made him take a picture with us. We hated each other back then, too."

More pictures brought up questions, but most of them were of Kazumi and Izuku. Then Ochaco let out a yelp as she saw one of the pictures.

"Oh my God!"

"What?"

"Apparently you kissed Bakugo?!" Kazumi's eyes widened as she took the album from her friend.

Sure enough, there was a picture of her and Bakugo—neither of them older than five—and she was doing the kind of kiss little kids do when they're trying to imitate adults. Not to mention Bakugo was kissing her back. She screamed in horror.

"I don't remember that! Who even took that picture?!"

"Aw, so you _did_ have a crush on him!" cooed Ashido.

"No way! That's the kind of kiss little kids do when they're imitating adults. Nothing more, nothing less."

"It's still super cute!"

"I'm going to murder whoever took that picture."

As the pictures got newer and the Kazumi and Izuku in them got older, there was a definite shift in the quality of the pictures. They had better lighting, a more professional look. Some of them were more out-of-focus than others and in line with the earlier ones, but the best one was of Kazumi in her middle-school uniform, standing by a window as she looked out it. The lighting and way the late-afternoon sun shone off her hair was super pretty.

"Wow…" whispered Tsuyu.

"Izuku took that one," Kazumi stated, trying her best to forget 'the picture' existed. "He started getting an eye for photography as he got older. Our mom's a better cook than she is a photographer, so the better ones are his work."

"Maybe I should ask him to take pictures of _me_ sometime!" Hagakure stated excitedly.

"He doesn't do it much anymore unless I ask him. And any of those pictures go directly into the album."

The last picture in the album featured Izuku with a broken right arm and Kazumi with slight scorch marks, both of them in their gym uniforms. And despite their respective states, they were both beaming huge smiles and Kazumi was throwing up a peace sign with her right arm around Izuku's shoulders. He had his left arm around hers.

"That was after my match at the Sports Festival. The only time he's ever _insisted_ on getting a picture of us—" Ashido set down the book and got up. "What are you doing?"

"C'mon. Everybody up! We're heading down to the common room!"

"Why?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"I'll explain when I meet you down there! Right now I'm gonna get the boys!"

Not wanting to question her further, the girls headed to the common area and were soon joined by the boys and Ashido, who had a camera in her hand. That's when Kazumi knew exactly why they'd been brought down there.

"Izuku, Kazumi mentioned you've got some photography skills, so here's the deal—you're getting pictures of all of us together!" Ashido stated, throwing her arm around Izuku.

"Wait, she did?"

"Yeah!"

"This is fucking stupid," Bakugo muttered.

"I guess I can take the pictures…" Izuku took the camera from Ashido—who'd also brought a tripod—and set it up while everyone else arranged themselves on the biggest couch. He then set it on a timer and ran to take a spot, which happened to be next to Ochaco.

_FLASH!_

More pictures were taken that night, and everyone agreed that it had been a good way to mark moving into the dorms. Izuku even took some candid shots of his classmates hanging out as they celebrated. Bakugo was the only person who seemed bothered by something and didn't join in; in fact, he retreated up to his room soon after the initial group photos were taken.

Kazumi went to put the group shots in her album when they printed a couple days later, only to find that her album was out of space. She was considering her options on going to buy a new one when there was a knock at her door. Upon opening it she found the hallway was empty… except for a wrapped package on the floor that she took into her room. It contained a brand-new album, this one with the same green cover as the old one, but with a silver spine instead of gold. The school's logo was embossed on the front in gold, though, and it looked custom-done.

"This is awesome!" she squealed. "I wonder who bought this…"

In the hallway, Bakugo heard her squeal and smiled to himself as he walked back to his room.

* * *

**AGH I'M TURNING UP THE BAKUGO/KAZUMI.**

** That being said, Bakugo is starting to come to terms with having a crush on her… which is going to cause problems. There's no way it won't. Compound that with his guilt over All-Might. Yeah, our boy's having an emotional storm in his head right now.**

** Meanwhile I make Izuku something of a shutterbug.**

** *shrugs***

** He needs a hobby and photography lets him capture heroes in the moment, so why not?**

** Next time: Provisional Licensing Exam prep and more Bakugo emotional turmoil! Yay!**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	8. Accidental Break

**Comments**

** To emiya-excalibur: I also think calling Izuku a shutterbug is cute. Why do you think I did it?**

** And to The Keeper of Worlds: I think the pictures were cute. And Bakugo did notice that her album was full when he saw it earlier, so he purposely went and got that for her.**

** But boi's about to send mixed messages.**

* * *

"Try it again!"

Kazumi smirked as water formed an arc around her. Her costume upgrades included tanks for water that fit the design without disrupting it and that was about it. She hadn't needed much else.

"Let's see you deal with my volley this time." Bakugo fired off the rounds of explosive shots at her and she either took them out with well-placed water sprays or doused them completely before they got too close.

Right now, they were preparing for their Provisional Licensing Exams and Bakugo had asked Kazumi to be his sparring partner as usual. She was willing, if only because it helped her get better control of her water. Especially with the tanks providing her a ready supply so she wouldn't accidentally control the blood in his body.

Yeah, convincing her that her Quirk wasn't evil had fallen to Izuku and Ochaco.

But she was back to normal now, and fighting as hard as she ever had. Her precision had improved, making her 'water blades' all the more effective at cutting through solid rock. Not to mention her suggestions for improving his explosion attacks. He really hoped she couldn't tell he was holding back a little.

He fired off another couple shots, which she dodged with ease and doused.

"You're getting a little slower, aren't you?" she teased.

"Shut up. Maybe you're getting faster."

"Ha!"

A few more fired at her and one flew behind her as she doused the ones in front of her. Horror flooded his veins as he realized what was about to happen and it happened before he could open his mouth to warn her. She turned to deal with the bomb and it went off before she could react, sending her flying across the rock.

"SHIT!" She landed hard, cradling her arm that had been about to douse the ball of fire. "Damn, that hurts!"

He rushed over.

"How bad is it?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow, clearly confused by his concern. "C'mon, is it bad or can you keep training?"

She held out her right arm, her wrist bent at an awkward angle and an angry red where her costume had burned away. He backed away from her quickly as guilt flooded through him. He'd hurt her. He'd burned her arm and broken her wrist _while sparring_.

His thoughts of self-loathing were interrupted by her sighing.

"Guess I'd better head off to Recovery Girl," she stated. He took her left hand and helped her to her feet.

"Dammit!"

"Kacchan, it's fine."

"I fucking _burned_ you and broke your wrist! It's _not_ fine!"

"Look, I'll go to Recovery Girl and she'll fix me up. Good as new." She narrowed her eyes and poked him in the chest with her left index finger. "Don't you _dare_ blame yourself for this. It was an accident, plain and simple. There's no reason to beat yourself up."

She exited the gym and Bakugo stared at his hands for a moment.

* * *

"He _broke your wrist_?!"

The girls eyed Kazumi's cast with shock.

"It was an accident. You should've seen him afterwards. I had to drill it into his head that I was okay and that it was an accident."

"Okay, and you _swear_ that he's not in love with you?" Ochaco asked.

"Please. Kacchan being in love with me? We're rivals and he wants me to stay in top form. This is just the most serious damage either of us has done to each other to date."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm being serious! Besides, I need somebody more level-headed and less… hot-tempered. I'm hot-tempered enough for two people, right?"

"Yeah, you take _Deku's_ hot temper, not your future partner's," Ashido snorted. "Besides, Bakugo treats you _way_ differently from everyone else. You know what they say—boys pick on—"

"Mina, I swear to God if the end of that sentence is 'the ones they like' I will blast you through a wall."

"Why?"

"Because it's a toxic idea and it needs to die. We're in the twenty-second century, for Pete's sake!"

"Okay, okay. I'll lay off."

"Good. I'm gonna get some more snacks." She headed out of the room and the girls looked at each other.

"How much do you wanna bet Bakugo's still beating himself up over what happened?" Ashido asked the other girls.

"I'll take that bet," Ochaco agreed with a smile.

"If you girls wanna talk romance and crushes, then how about Ochaco and my brother?" Kazumi suggested as she walked up with the snacks she'd gone to get. Ochaco's face turned bright red.

"WHAT?!" the other girls shrieked.

"I don't have a crush on Deku! I told you that!" Ochaco insisted.

"Uh-huh. And my body's not made of water."

"Kazumi!"

* * *

It was like he'd been smacked in the face.

Bakugo stared at the ceiling of his dorm room, watching the fan spin as his thoughts whirled even faster.

He couldn't believe it. He had a crush on Kazumi Midoriya. The girl who, upon their first meeting, had soaked him to the bone and yelled at him for picking on Deku. And for years afterward, he'd made fun of her and she'd become his rival. But somewhere along the line—and he still wasn't sure when—his view of her had changed. She was one of the few people in their class who could go toe-to-toe with him and come out relatively unscathed. In combat, she was swift, brilliant, and almost entirely fearless. As a student, despite her mid-term grades, she easily ranked up there with Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Deku as one of the smartest members of class 1-A.

But he was starting to see beyond that. Her sharp tongue and sass were undeniable and he found himself missing it when he went a few days without seeing her. She easily ranked as one of the prettiest girls in class, too—quite possibly for their year. She was calm and cool-headed when he went on tirades at the dorms, even tossing water on him when he got too heated to calm him down. To Bakugo, though, the most distinctive thing about her was her gentle kindness. Despite his borderline abuse of her over the years, she'd always been there with a bandage when he got into a scrape.

She wasn't his rival. She couldn't be his rival anymore.

He'd never forgive himself if he hurt her again.

He balled his hands into fists just thinking about it. He'd done something horrible to her and he was having trouble with the guilt.

He'd burned her and caused her wrist to break.

"Dammit… she really can't be my rival anymore. I can't do this."

What would he do now? Ignore her? Stammer awkwardly around her like he was fucking Deku and she was Uraraka? There was no way in hell he'd be able to act like he always had around her. Not when he had these… feelings.

There was also the fact that she had some serious baggage in regards to her dad. She'd mentioned that she'd figured out who he was but refused to divulge his identity because of reasons that she also refused to disclose.

If Bakugo had to guess, her father was a pro hero—most likely in the top ten—and she didn't want to ruin his career when her life had actually turned out for the better because she'd been abandoned. And he'd overheard her talking to Deku, Uraraka, and Iida about the memories she had of her father, few that she could recall. All of them involved the man berating her, insulting her, screaming at her for her Quirk. Calling her an embarrassment. Even hitting her.

_She was four fucking years old when she was adopted._

_ How the fuck can you hit a four-year-old girl?_

That enraged him more than anything.

_Soon as I find out who this bastard is, I'm tracking his ass down and killing him._

Now he had to think: when the _fuck_ had he fallen for Kazumi Midoriya hard enough to _literally murder_ her abusive birth father?

The training camp.

Where they'd _both_ been kidnapped.

Both of them because they had 'potential' as villains. Him because of his anger. Her because of an ability she'd found during battle that night.

She could control liquids.

That included human blood.

The horrified look on her face when Shigaraki had praised her for that ability had made Bakugo want nothing more than to break free of his bonds and blow up every single villain there. He had to protect her. That was the job of a hero. And he couldn't protect her if he was the one causing her injuries. She couldn't be his rival anymore, not when it meant he had to fight her.

He wasn't sure how to bring it up, though.

_Hey, Water Witch. You know how I've tortured your brother our whole lives and we've been fighting since we were four? Well, turns out I've fallen in love with you so how about we stop being rivals and make out instead?_

Yeah. That would end with him getting _slapped across the fucking face._

He'd keep it on the down-low for now.

He rolled onto his side and found something sticking out of the drawer of his nightstand. It was a paper of some kind with writing on it, one he definitely hadn't put there. He pulled it out and sat up to read what it said.

_Bakugo,_

_ You obviously have a thing for Kazumi. Even if you won't admit it. So I grabbed this for you to hold onto so you can stare at her all you want without being called creepy. Don't worry. I haven't told her brother about it. I figured I'd leave that for when you man up and ask her out._

_ Good luck._

_ -Kirishima._

Bakugo turned it over to see a picture of Kazumi smiling and laughing. Based on her clothes, it was one of the ones Deku had taken the day they moved into the dorms. An involuntary warm smile spread across his face as he gazed at her before he realized what he was doing and threw the picture back in his drawer.

_God. Fucking. Dammit._

_ I always knew she'd be the death of me._

_ I just thought it would be actual murder._

* * *

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I can't be your rival anymore, Water Witch, or do you need to clean out your ears?!"

It was a few days after the licensing exam. All of 1-A had passed except for Todoroki and Bakugo, including Kazumi. Currently, though, Bakugo and Kazumi were outside the dorms so that they wouldn't be overheard when they had this conversation. He didn't want to be chewed out by the other six female residents for 'breaking poor Kazumi's heart' and 'being an asshole'.

"Is this about my wrist? Because I told you—that was an accident and it wasn't your fault!"

"No, it's just… we're on different levels now and you need to fight somebody like Todoroki or something!"

"That's not an answer!"

"It's an—"

"IT'S NOT A FUCKING ANSWER!"

"Look, just piss off and stop bugging me. I'm not gonna spar with you anymore."

"No, we're talking about this!"

"No, we're not! So fuck _off_!"

He disappeared around the corner of the building before she could get out another response and he could hear her scream in frustration. He almost turned around to apologize, but his pride wouldn't let him say the words.

Besides, he had to go talk to Deku. About All-Might, about Kazumi, about everything. And he'd kick that nerd's ass once and for all.

* * *

There was a knock at her door as she buried her face in her pillow.

"Come in!" she called.

"Miss Midoriya, All-Might has requested you to come down to the common room."

She threw off her blankets and put on her sneakers, still frustrated with Bakugo for the bullshit that he'd pulled earlier that night as she headed downstairs and saw All-Might standing there—still heavily bandaged and looking concerned.

"What's this about?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I'll explain on the way. Come on."

She followed him out the door and realized they were heading for Ground Beta.

"So, you gonna explain now?"

"Your brother is in a fight with Young Bakugo. You know them both well and you know the truth about One For All, which is what I think the fight's about."

"Let me get this straight: Bakugo dumps me as a rival and not _two hours later_ he gets in a fight with my brother _after curfew_? What the hell is wrong with him? I'm going to kill them both, I swear…"

_Ouch._ All-Might had never heard her refer to Bakugo as anyone but Kacchan, so hearing her spit out his name like he was an acquaintance was slightly… unnerving.

_Young Bakugo better have a good explanation for her._

By the time they reached Ground Beta, Bakugo and Izuku were obviously done with their fight despite the emotions still running high. Kazumi rushed past Bakugo towards her brother, making the explosion hero stare after her in shock.

"Hey, sis," Izuku chuckled nervously as she began to check him over.

"Shut up. Don't 'hey, sis' me. I'm pissed off."

"Sorry."

"Dammit, Izuku." She hugged him, then turned towards Bakugo and marched towards him. Before he could react, she slapped him across the face—no Quirk, just her hand.

"Hey!"

"You complete _fucking moron_! What were you thinking?! Do you have any idea how much trouble you and Izuku are going to get into?!"

Izuku and All-Might both cringed at her outburst.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!"

"You have no idea why I'm so pissed right now, do you?!"

All-Might intervened and explained the situation to Bakugo—everything about One For All and how it was passed down, why he'd chosen Izuku, and even why Kazumi knew the truth. When it was all said and done, Bakugo looked from the Midoriya siblings to All-Might.

"So, us three are the only ones at UA who know the truth?"

"Other than Recovery Girl and the principal, yes."

"I got it. I'll keep the secret."

"Let's get the three of you back to the dorms now."

Kazumi kept her distance from Bakugo, her eyes trained to the ground as they walked. Izuku and the other boy got into an argument over who would be better than the other and All-Might chuckled.

"They've become true rivals," he commented to Kazumi low enough for the boys not to hear over their bickering.

"But did he have to dump me as a rival to do it?" she asked in the same low tone. "I don't know who I'm supposed to compete against now."

"I don't know, either. But you're a smart girl. You'll figure it out."

"I know, but…"

"Yeah. It's rough. How long were you two like that?"

"Since we were little kids, I guess."

"Ooh. That's a special kind of ouch."

" 'Special kind of ouch' is not an expression I thought I'd hear tonight."

"Well, I didn't think I'd be handling a fight between your brother and your ex-rival tonight, but here we are."

Of course, Aizawa wasn't happy when they got back to the dorms. He wrapped the boys in his scarf and started to reprimand them for waking him up and going to an off-limits area to fight. Kazumi stood in the background, listening and enjoying Bakugo getting told off.

In the end, the boys were put under house arrest.

And Kazumi? She was told to just go back to bed and be ready for tomorrow.

* * *

"Okay, so Mirio seems… intrigued by my power, for lack of a better term."

"How many people can turn themselves into a puddle at will?" Izuku laughed. "If anything, I'm surprised he still got you when you could escape more easily than any of the rest of us."

"Well, to be fair, I think the fight was more interesting because I could escape at any time but didn't." She mulled it over in her head. "I think he was more interested in how you analyzed his movements than my Quirk. I mean, you figured out where he was going to be and he looked shocked—_shocked_, I tell you!"

"Ha! Right."

"Need your trash," sighed Bakugo, standing next to the couch.

"Go jump in the bin, then," Kazumi replied.

"Very funny, Water Witch. I'm being serious."

"And I'm still pissed at you for your bullshit."

"What do you _want_ me to say?"

"Are you seriously _this_ fucking dense? You should know what I _need_ you to say!"

Izuku gulped nervously and backed away from the growing storm.

"But I don't!"

"And that's the problem—you don't know what you did wrong." She stood up. "Good night, Izuku. See you in the morning."

"That's rough, Bakugo," Kirishima told his friend, patting him on the shoulder as soon as Kazumi disappeared upstairs.

"What did you _do_?!" Kaminari asked. "I haven't seen her this pissed in a while!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Bakugo grabbed the bags of trash and headed outside. When he came back, he stomped upstairs.

"What did he do to Kazumi?" Kaminari asked again.

"He kicked her to the curb, that's what he did!" Ashido snapped. "He told her that they were on different levels and she needed to find somebody else to be her rival!"

"That's just cruel," Iida stated. "They've been sparring partners ever since they came to UA and rivals since they were young children. And he ended it so abruptly."

"He couldn't even give her a _real reason_!"

"How do you know all this?" Ochaco inquired. "I'm her best friend and she didn't tell me any of it."

"They had their argument right under my balcony. I really wanted her to just haul off and punch him. It's what he deserved."

Izuku sighed as he looked towards the stairs his sister had disappeared upwards on and thought about it.

_Kacchan's been acting weird around Kazumi ever since what happened in Camino Ward. And he mentioned something about feeling conflicted when it comes to Kazumi, so could it be possible that he… he… of course. He's in love with her and doesn't want to hurt her like he did during that sparring match before the exams. But he won't tell her because his pride is getting in the way. I think all Kazumi wants is an apology for being rude, though. In that case we run into the same problem. He's not going to apologize because he thinks he was in the right to end things like that._

_ Wait, am I okay with Kacchan dating Kazumi?_

"Deku, do you have an idea on how we can end the deadlock?" Ochaco asked, sitting down beside him.

"I think all Kazumi wants is for him to apologize. He _was_ extremely rude to her and sometimes that's all a person needs to hear."

"I highly doubt he'll do that," Todoroki stated flatly.

"Look, we should at least _try_ to help them along, if it'll make it easier to live with the two of them," Kirishima told the others. "Maybe keep them apart for a while? Kazumi's prepping for the work-study and Bakugo's got his extra classes, so that could work, right?"

"Right," everyone agreed.

And so a plan was set in motion: keep Bakugo and Kazumi apart at all costs until one of them decided to talk to the other. Simple, and effective.

* * *

Since they were little kids, Kazumi and Izuku had been inseparable.

Brother and sister. Best friends. The package deal that meant Kazumi was much less popular than she would've been otherwise. They supported each other through everything. They fought, because siblings who don't really fight are fictional constructs of an only child, and they argued. Teasing, serious discussions, protecting each other… that was what defined the relationship of the Midoriya siblings. Their bond was strong. It had been tested several times but always came through the fire stronger.

When their work-studies began, their bond was at its strongest. They were working at agencies near each other and excited to work as heroes to actually fight villains.

But what happened with Overhaul…

That nearly shattered that bond. And it all had to do with a little girl.

* * *

**I tried.**

** The bit with Bakugo lying in bed contemplating life was the first part of this chapter that was written.**

** And yes—there will be actual drama between Kazumi and Izuku because even close siblings aren't immune to massive disagreements. And it will be over the subject of Eri.**

** Next time: well, Eri!**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	9. Aunt Kazumi

**Comments of the day!**

** To The Keeper of Worlds: Yeah, you were actually pretty close. But sorry. You were wrong.**

** To Boku No Reviewer: You were wrong. But Eri does lead to their biggest fight ever.**

** To Johnny Spectre: Best daughter indeed.**

** And finally, to emiya-excalibur: Yes, Katsuki is bad at feelings. That's actually canon.**

** Side note: I wrote the entirety of this chapter on a long car ride, so if it feels off, that would be why. I probably started the next chapter on the ride, too, which is why it might be up pretty quick after this one. And that's also why I didn't post a chapter last night.**

** Here we go!**

* * *

"…and that's what happened."

Kazumi was silent for a moment while everyone else looked shocked. But it was his sister's reaction that concerned Izuku the most—namely, that her eyes were downcast and the tips of her hair were steaming.

"Kazumi, are you okay?"

"You're telling me you gave that little girl back. To the yakuza boss. Who was almost _certainly_ abusing her."

"I didn't have any other options. We're going to concoct a plan—"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" She leapt to her feet, knocking over the chair she'd been sitting on and startling Ochaco.

"Kazumi—"

"NO, SHUT UP!" She balled her hands into fists. "Izuku Midoriya, how _stupid_ are you?!"

"Wait—"

"Why are you getting so worked up over this?" Kaminari asked. "The pros will have this handled."

"_None of you are getting it!"_ She slammed her fist down on the table.

"BAKUGO! GET IN HERE AND CALM HER DOWN!" Kirishima called towards the living room.

"I'M NOT DOING SHIT FOR WATER WITCH WHEN SHE'S LIKE THIS!" came the reply. "LET HER GET IT OUT OF HER SYSTEM!"

"Okay, Izuku. I'm going to give you two seconds to give me the location where you found that little girl or I'm going to be even more pissed. You all can wait for the pros, but I'm going after her myself!"

"Why is this so important to you?" Todoroki inquired calmly.

"BECAUSE I KNOW HOW SHE MUST BE FEELING!"

The entire class—including Bakugo, who'd come in to see what the hell was going on—was staring at her now. She took a deep shuddering breath and released it as tears began to stream down her face.

"She's alone. She's scared. She's being abused in almost every sense of the word because of her Quirk. She feels like she's been abandoned and that nobody can care about her—that she doesn't _deserve_ to have anybody care about her. She's not being cared for properly. I doubt she's ever had a decent meal. And she's probably constantly terrified that one day she'll be pushed too far and she'll die. I know how she feels because that's what my life was before the Midoriyas adopted me. I was abused by my birth father before he abandoned me on the streets as a toddler because I didn't have the Quirk he wanted. I was an _embarrassment _to him and he tossed me out like trash. I don't know how long I lived on the streets, but I was alone and I was terrified. I resorted to picking pockets to survive but even that wasn't enough to keep me from feeling hungry almost every damn day! I got _lucky_ when I happened to pick the pocket of the woman I now call my mother! Who knows—I might've ended up like that little girl if I hadn't. So no, I'm not willing to let another little girl be subjected to what I was subjected to as a child."

She held out her hand to Izuku.

"Now. Give me the address."

"Like hell you're going alone!" Kirishima snapped. "This is the Yakuza we're talking about! You need _back-up_!"

"I don't see any of you—"

"I'll go."

Bakugo was the first to speak up.

"But you don't have your provisional license!" pointed out Iida, looking annoyed.

"So? This is a rescue mission, not a combat mission. Besides, I kinda owe Water Witch for being an ass to her."

"I'll go, too," Izuku sighed. "She'll recognize me."

Ochaco, Todoroki, and Iida volunteered to go as well. The rest of their class agreed to cover for the missing students while they were gone to ensure everything went smoothly on that end. Yaoyorozu even gave them all earpieces similar to those they'd used during their first combat training to improve their communication.

And Operation: Little Rescue was put into motion.

* * *

Ochaco knelt by the little girl, who was unconscious on the cot within the rather barren cell.

Upon reaching the location where Izuku had guessed the Yakuza were holding the little girl, they'd all split up. Bakugo and Todoroki were set as lookouts due to them not having their provisional licenses like the other four. There was a lot of ground to cover and Ochaco had found the little girl first. Her heart ached at the sight of the bandages and the weak sound of the girl's breathing, but she couldn't focus on that now. The stealth portion had gone well. Right now, she needed to grab the little girl and get the hell out to meet up with the others.

"Hey," she whispered. The little girl groaned, her red-brown eyes fluttering open.

"Who are you?" she mumbled.

"I'm a friend of Deku's. We came to get you out of here. Can you get up?"

"Mm-hmm." She swung her tiny legs over the side of the cot and her bare feet hit the concrete floor. Her knees buckled and she fell, but Ochaco caught her and cradled her gently.

"I'm going to carry you, okay?"

"Okay. What's your name?"

"Ochaco. What's yours?"

"Eri."

"Well, Eri, let's get going—"

_"We got company!"_ came Bakugo's voice over the earpiece. _"Anybody find the kid?!"_

"I've got her!" Ochaco said. "She can't walk on her own right now, so I'm carrying her."

_"I'm right around the corner,"_ Deku assured her. _"I'm heading your way now."_

And sure enough, when Ochaco left the cell Eri had been in, there was Deku.

"We need to get out of here," he told her.

"Hi, Deku," murmured Eri.

"Hi."

"I'll carry her. You provide us with protection so we can get out."

"Got it!"

They started to run through the compound, an alarm blaring as they ran. Evidently, they'd been discovered and this was bad. Very bad. Eri whimpered and buried her face in Ochaco's shoulder.

"It's okay, Eri. We'll get you out of here and you'll never have to see this people again," Ochaco whispered.

_"We have an update," _Todoroki stated. _"At least a dozen pros have arrived on the scene, including Endeavor and Eraserhead."_

_"Dammit!" _Kazumi groaned. _"We're in deep shit now!"_

_"Language, Tsunami,"_ Iida reprimanded. _"Uravity, Deku, where are you?"_

Before either Deku or Ochaco could answer, there was a _boom_ somewhere in the distance. Based on the fact that the guards were nowhere to be found, Ochaco guessed that they'd been sent to battle the pros or abandoned their posts out of cowardice.

Suddenly, water dropped from a drain in the ceiling and then rose from the ground to reveal Kazumi.

"You've got her—great," the water heroine said. "Iida's not too far ahead. We'll sneak out in the chaos of the battle outside."

And miraculously, that went off without a hitch. They managed to leave and get back to the dorms without any of the villains or pros realizing that they were there. Once they were back, Ochaco brought Eri back to her room and laid her on the bed.

"We'll have to keep an eye on her," Kazumi sighed. "After everything that's happened to her, she'll be reluctant to trust us for long. Not to mention the nightmares she's sure to have."

"And you'll have to figure out how to explain this to Principal Nezu," added Iida. Kazumi stiffened.

"Yeah, I didn't think that part through, did I?"

"Ya _think_?!" Bakugo snorted. Eri mumbled in her sleep and turned over.

"I'll stay with her for tonight," Ochaco offered.

"And I'll take the fall for all of you," Kazumi told the ones who'd gone with her. "It was me who pushed you all to go, after all."

Everyone left the room except for Ochaco and Eri, the door closing behind Kazumi as she gave one last smile to the little girl who slept in the bed.

"Chaco…?" Eri said, waking up a little.

"Hi, Eri. How are you feeling?"

"Warm." Ochaco felt her forehead—no fever. "And safe."

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way. Because we're not letting you go back to those people, no matter what." She smiled gently and brushed Eri's hair back from her face. "You're safe. I promise."

Eri smiled—a tiny smile that said how grateful she was.

"Thank you… but won't you get in trouble?"

"You're worth the trouble." She moved to get up to fix herself a sleeping pallet, but Eri tugged on her sleeve.

"I don't wanna sleep on my own."

"Okay. You want me to sleep next to you?"

"Uh-huh."

"Let me just get my pajamas on, then."

Within a few minutes, Eri was curled up with Ochaco and an orange stuffed cat that Kazumi had left outside the door as a present.

"Ochaco?"

"Yes, Eri?"

"…is this what it's like to have a mama?"

Ochaco's heart clenched tightly.

"You don't remember your mother, do you?"

"No."

"Well, then, yes. This is what it's like to have a mama."

"Then… Ochaco? Will… will you be my mama?"

Once again, the gravity heroine's heart clenched. Her mind told her to say no, but her heart said yes. And her heart won out; how could it not after everything Eri had been through in her short life?

_I got lucky when the Midoriyas adopted me._

Kazumi's words from the beginning of the year echoed in Ochaco's head.

"Yes, Eri. I'll be your mama as long as you need me to be."

" 'Kay. Night, Mama."

"Night, Eri."

Ochaco turned out her light and let herself fall asleep next to her new daughter.

* * *

"While I don't agree with what the six of you carried out several nights ago, it was undoubtedly effective," Principal Nezu stated bluntly to the students in front of him.

"Blame me, sir," Kazumi sighed. "I was hot-tempered and I couldn't…"

"I'm aware of your background, Kazumi, and I know that you couldn't sit by and let a child be subjected to the same atrocities you were. We were able to apprehend much of the Shie Hassaikai that night, including the man known as Overhaul, and we have no doubt they'll be put away for quite a long time."

"Sir, what about Eri?" asked Izuku, stepping forward. "She's grown attached to Uraraka already. She even calls her Mama."

"Hm. Then, for your punishments… I will let Eraserhead decide them."

"Given that Uraraka has already formed that bond with the child," began Aizawa, stepping forward, "she will be in charge of caring for Eri for as long as she remains here. Mr. Midoriya, I'm putting you on that front as well. As for the rest of you, you're all under house-arrest for the next week. I'll allow you to attend classes but that is as far as I'm willing to go. The four of you will be in charge of keeping the dorms clean. I'm sure Bakugo can show you the ropes."

"Thank you, sir," Iida replied, shaking. "We deserve to be expelled for what we've done."

"You saved a child from a horrible situation. Despite acting against the rules, you acted like heroes in how you aimed to carry out your plan. I'm willing to be a little lenient. Now, get going. You have a lot of work ahead of you."

"Yes, sir!" all six replied, heading for the door.

Out in the hallway, Eri was waiting with Recovery Girl. Her bandages had been replaced and her color looked much better than before.

"Mama!" she cheered, running straight for Ochaco. "What did the principal say?"

"He told me that I have to take care of you for as long as you're with us. And Deku has to help me."

"Oh." She smiled at Deku. "So you're my papa!"

Both Izuku's and Ochaco's faces turned bright red as they looked at each other awkwardly. Kazumi burst out laughing, leaning against the wall so she wouldn't fall over. Bakugo did the same while Todoroki remained as stone-faced as ever and Iida looked annoyed at Kazumi's outburst.

"There is nothing funny about this!"

"No, sorry, just… their reactions were _priceless_!" Kazumi choked out. "God, I wish I had a camera so I could show them!"

"Let's get back to the dorms!" Izuku insisted, his face still bright red.

"Yes. You have to take care of my niece," Kazumi agreed, still smirking.

"What's a niece?" Eri asked as they walked along.

"Well, your papa is my brother, which makes me your aunt. And you're my niece because you're my brother's daughter."

"Oh!"

"In fact, why don't you think of everybody in the dorms as your aunts and uncles?"

"Okay!"

Eri looked excited, but Kazumi knew that kind of excitement. It was hesitant, reluctant to trust and be genuine. Like everything good might be taken away in an instant and she needed to keep her guard up.

Once back at the dorms, Kazumi and the three boys assigned to house arrest got to work on their punishment. Meanwhile, Ochaco and Izuku focused on showing Eri around her new home while discussing things like sleeping arrangements and care schedules; after all, they were being allowed to carry on with their work-studies for the week that Kazumi and Iida were banned. They also introduced her to the other members of 1-A—all of whom almost immediately fawned over the little girl. She stuck to Ochaco's leg until her mama assured her that they were nice people and shot her classmates a glare that said 'be less in-your-face with her'.

"She's going to need new clothes," Izuku sighed as Eri hesitantly began to talk to Kirishima.

"I'm sure my parents have some of mine from when I was her age," Ochaco mused, but Izuku was already going into mumble mode.

"Clothes for kids are fairly inexpensive, so we should be able to buy most of it with earnings from our work-studies. I could ask Mom for me and Kazumi's old clothes, but I'm pretty sure she gave a lot of it away to charity. It wouldn't be fair to ask the others to help pay for Eri's stuff when she's our responsibility. Oh, but she needs more than clothes. She needs kids' stuff like toys and books to keep her occupied so she doesn't get bored. And if she's going to have her own room in the dorm she'll want to decorate it, which adds another expense…"

Kazumi sighed and splashed water on her brother's face.

"Sorry!" he yelped. Eri giggled.

"Listen, how about you go see Mom and explain the situation to her? And bring Eri and Ochaco with you, too. I'd go, but I have what's going on here."

"G-good idea…"

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled to know she's a grandmother." Kazumi went back to cleaning and Izuku sighed.

"How do you feel about seeing my mom again, Uraraka?" he asked.

"I'd love to see her again, but I think we need to take Eri to get some clothes first—"

"OOH!" squealed Ashido. "Let me come, too! I'd love to find my new niece some cute clothes!"

"How about you and Ashido head out and I'll stay here to set up a room for Eri?" Izuku suggested.

"Good plan."

Kazumi watched Ashido and Ochaco check Eri's size and then as they took the little girl outside the dorm. She smirked at her brother as everyone else dissipated to go back to their rooms or whatever.

"So, you gonna tell Ochaco how you feel now?"

"W-what are you talking about?!"

"Simple. You two are raising a child together. Don't you think her parents should have a loving relationship?"

"Kazumi—"

"She likes you back, you know."

"What?"

"Ochaco. She likes you, too."

"How long have you known?"

"Oh. Since before finals last semester."

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because it was funny to watch you two turn into stammering idiots around each other. But now it's kind of getting old and I'd like to move the romance along for the sake of my niece."

"O-oh." Izuku was red-faced.

"Nervous?"

"Extremely!"

"Izuku." She grabbed his hands. "Remember the breathing exercises I found for you. Do them, now."

He took a deep breath, held it in for a few seconds, then breathed out slowly. As usual, his nerves began to feel a bit calmer.

"Better?"

"Better. Thanks, Kazumi."

"No problem. Lucky you gets to play with a little girl while I'm stuck with Bakugo in the dorms for a week."

Izuku internally hissed in sympathy for Bakugo.

_She really is still furious at him. It's been a while, though._

"Good luck, sis."

"I need all of it that I can get."

* * *

It was decided that Eri would have the room across the hall from Ochaco and Kazumi, close enough so that she could run to them if she needed them. This turned out to be a good thing a couple nights later when Kazumi went to check on her and found her niece having a nightmare. She quickly shook her to try and wake her up, which worked and Eri awoke with a start.

"A-Aunt Kazumi?"

"Hey, Little Bit. You're okay. It was just a nightmare."

"Mama and Papa love me, right?"

"Right."

"And none of you would ever leave me, right?" Eri's eyes filled with tears. "I keep thinking… you're gonna realize how bad I am… and you're gonna send me back to Chisaki…"

"Eri, no. Of course we're not going to do that."

Izuku and Ochaco appeared in the doorway.

"Nobody here will abandon you. You're a very beautiful and smart little girl who just got a bad set of people to raise you at first. But you got lucky and you now have a mama and a papa and lots of aunts and uncles to help take care of you and be there for you when you need them."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Now, time to go back to sleep," Ochaco added, coming to sit next to Kazumi on the bed. "I've got it from here. Thanks, Kazumi."

"You're welcome."

Izuku smiled as Kazumi passed him.

He could remember when they were little and their mother had said something very similar to Kazumi after a nightmare. His sister had come full circle now, helping another little girl who'd come from a bad situation.

"Can I… talk to you?" he asked.

"Sure. About what?" He went with her to her room and they sat down on her bed.

"It's… about your birth father. You said you figured out who he is?"

"Yeah. At the Sports Festival, when Todoroki told you his story… I was around the corner, listening. And then during your match, I saw Endeavor and it triggered a memory in my mind."

"W-wait… are you saying…?"

"Yeah. It wasn't a clear memory, but… I could see Endeavor, and a boy with half-red, half-white hair. The boy was trying to protect me. I recognized him, even though it's been over a decade since we were separated."

"Kazumi…"

"I know what my name was now. I was Kazumi Todoroki."

* * *

**A REVEAL THAT HAS SHOCKED ANYONE WHO DIDN'T READ "ANTIHERO"!**

** Okay, so yeah. I purposely left out a lot of the action for two reasons: one, I'm primarily a watcher of the anime and season 4 won't be here until October so I'm not clear on all the details of what happens (aside from Eri's rescue), and two, I wanted to get to the cuter stuff. From here on, the story will be rather more slice-of-life and we'll develop relationships a lot more.**

** Next time: Inko meets Eri and Izuku meets Ochaco's parents.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	10. Meet the Parents

**Sorry this is later than usual! I was binging My Hero Academia with my sister, who I finally convinced to watch the show (her favorite character is a three-way tie between Aizawa, Ochaco, and Izuku).**

** Comment time!**

** To emiya-excalibur: Fuck Overhaul indeed. Nobody actually guessed what was going on. As for her feeling 'replaced', she's reached a point where she knows that Izuku will never willingly abandon her.**

** To skullcrusher3317: again, I have not read the manga and I didn't want to miswrite the scene.**

** To The Keeper of Worlds: I don't know if I'll have him do that yet. And as for the others learning, everyone who's going to know for the next couple chapters finds out in this chapter.**

** And finally, to RaudomGny, you knew because I revealed it in the final chapter of "Antihero". Or if you didn't, impressive work figuring it out. I was actually being subtle… I think.**

** This chapter is mostly fluffy fluff with a side of fluff.**

* * *

Izuku blinked at his sister's admission.

"Oh my God…" He sat back, staring at her.

"I couldn't believe it, either. It's so bizarre. But I knew as soon as I saw the hair it was Shoto."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"He hates our father enough. And if this gets out… it's likely I could ruin Endeavor's whole career. Besides, I don't have any evidence, so I'll likely be seen as a scammer who's trying to get money."

"But what about DNA testing?"

"You know what kind of hero Endeavor is. He's worked for so long to get to the top and he's not going to let there be a chance of a scandal." She smiled. "Besides, I have you and Mom for family! No need to go digging up the past when it's been over a decade since I was abandoned!"

"Then what about the others?"

"The others?"

"Todoroki has a few brothers and at least one sister. Not to mention his mother. Don't you think they'd like to know what happened to you?" She bit her lip.

"Maybe. But I don't know how to bring it up. Where would I even start?"

"This is big news, Kazumi. You're a Todoroki—"

"I'm a _Midoriya_. That's the family that raised and loved me and that's the family I belong with."

Izuku gave her a hug, which she gladly reciprocated.

"You're the brother I grew up with and the one I care about most. If… if I ever tell Shoto, I won't have the memories with him like I have with you. I won't have the same bond."

"He's still your brother."

"Yeah."

Outside the room, however, Shoto Todoroki was frozen.

He'd stopped by Kazumi's room to have a talk with her about a sparring session to help her with temperature control when he heard her talking to Izuku. And when he'd heard her say that Endeavor was her father, he hadn't been able to move or speak. A rainbow of emotions went through him—rage, fear, confusion, sadness, and even a little bit of joy. He had another sister. A sister who'd been _abandoned_ on the streets by their father because her Quirk didn't measure up to what he wanted. A sister who'd been adopted by a family who loved her and one who was able to compete on his level.

So much about Kazumi suddenly made sense. Her thermoregulation, for instance, must've been a result of their parents' Quirks. There was also her water-hair, which could easily have been melted ice. Even her memories—the ones he'd heard tell of anyway—matched up so well with his own. Of being beaten, abused, and comforted by their mother. Of being afraid of their father.

Except their father had abandoned Kazumi.

A memory flashed through his mind.

_"Your Quirk is useless to me, you little embarrassment!"_

_ Three-year-old Kazumi landed hard on the floor, crying out and holding her cheek after Endeavor had slapped her so hard. She stared up with those ice-blue eyes, full of tears of pain as she whimpered._

_ "Father, stop!" Shoto yelled, running forward and standing in front of his sister._

_ "Stand aside, Shoto."_

_ "No! A hero protects those in need!" He gave his father a look of defiance. "And Kazumi needs me!"_

_ "S-Shoto…" Kazumi whimpered. Endeavor let out a scoff and turned._

_ "You're showing weakness for a useless person, son. You'll have to learn to get over that someday." He left the room and Shoto turned to face his sister, who was still crying as she held her cheek._

_ "Let me see." She moved her hand. There was a red mark where Endeavor had slapped her, but it wasn't a burn. It was just a mark. Nothing more, nothing less._

_ "Shoto, I'm scared. Why does Father hate me?"_

_ "He doesn't hate you."_

_ "He says I'm an embarrassment." He hugged her tightly._

_ "You're not an embarrassment, Kazumi," their mother said in the doorway, crossing the room and kneeling to hug them. "You and Shoto have amazing Quirks that you can use together. You're two sides of the same coin. It's all because you're twins. And I love you both very much."_

_ "I love you, too, Mommy!" Kazumi sobbed, burying her face in Rei's shoulder._

_ "And Shoto, your sister will need you. Please, take care of her."_

He balled his hands into fists.

_She's my twin. We're two sides of the same coin. And Father…_

_ He'll pay for this._

He knocked on Kazumi's door and heard her soft footsteps crossing the hard wood. The door opened to reveal her face and he realized just how much she looked like their mother.

"Oh, hey, Todoroki," she greeted him brightly. "What's up?"

"I… I wanted to work with you on your Quirk tomorrow. On your temperature control."

"Sure. Sounds great. See you tomorrow!"

"Good night."

She closed the door and he backed away before heading back towards his own room.

"Why couldn't I tell Kazumi the truth?" he muttered to himself. "I'll tell her tomorrow while we're sparring."

As he'd talked to himself, he'd passed Bakugo in the hall. The explosive blonde heard him say that and whirled around, but it was too late. Todoroki had disappeared into his room and Bakugo was alone with his anger and the lingering words.

_You… Icy Hot… Water Witch is mine._

_ But… I can't tell her. She hates me as it is._

_ Maybe she's better off with a guy like him. Somebody who won't break her wrist while they're sparring or treat her like garbage when he's pissed off at himself._

_ Yeah. She's better off with Todoroki._

* * *

Todoroki was waiting for her in the gym by the time she got there. He looked bothered by something, his normally calm demeanor rather more impatient than usual.

"Hello, Kazumi," he greeted her.

"Hey, Todoroki." He sighed.

"Before we begin, I have something I need to tell you about."

"What is it?"

"I… I heard you speaking with Izuku last night. About your memories."

She blinked, a look of horror spreading across her face.

"Y-you heard…?"

"Yes. And… it triggered something—a memory. I remembered protecting you from our father, and our mother telling us we were two sides of the same coin because we're twins. So I'm not just your brother, Kazumi—I'm your twin."

"Oh my God…" She was shaking as her knees gave out and he crouched beside her. "We're… we're twins. Holy shit."

"I asked you to meet me here today because I want to bring you somewhere else. And now that neither of us are on house arrest, we can leave campus." He helped her to her feet. "Everyone else is out of the dorms today. Let's head back and prepare."

"Prepare for what?"

"For you to meet our mother."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"I know that Mrs. Midoriya has done a wonderful job raising you, and that she will the woman you always think of as your mother, but I believe you should meet the one who gave birth to us."

"O-okay…" she sniffed, the trademark 'Midoriya tears' running down her face.

Back at the dorms, she put on a dark blue skirt and a pale blue blouse, tying her hair into a half-braid. Todoroki was ready for her in the common room and they set out. She had no idea where their mother was or where they were going, but Todoroki wasn't the type to pull tricks on her like this. That was more a Bakugo move than anything else.

But when they arrived at the hospital, she was filled with dread.

"W-what are we doing here?"

"After you were abandoned by our father, things got worse for Mother. She poured boiling water on my face and Father had her sent here to 'get better' when really, he was furious she'd harmed his precious heir. And the only reason she even did it was because my left side was unbearable to her."

"Todoroki—"

"Shoto."

"Hm?"

"I feel uncomfortable with you calling me by my family name when you're my sister, so please call me Shoto."

"All right, then. Shoto, will she even recognize me?"

"Perhaps. They say a mother never forgets."

"You got that from the sequel to that dragon movie we watched last dorm movie night."

"It was a thought-provoking film." He pushed the button for the elevator and Kazumi felt herself tense as they rode it upwards. The feeling remained as they approached a room labeled 'R. Todoroki' and she paused for a moment.

"I… I don't know if I can…"

"You can do this, Kazumi. Just allow me to go in first and prepare her."

"A-all right."

He entered the room and his mother's face lit up.

"Shoto! I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

"I wasn't expecting to return so soon, either, but something has happened. Mother… did I ever have a twin sister?" Rei's face fell.

"Y-you did. When you were young. Why?"

"I found her. Or, we found each other."

The door opened and Kazumi walked in. Rei's eyes filled with tears.

"K-Kazumi?!"

"H-hello, Mother." Rei shot up and wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter, gasping for breath.

"Oh, my baby! I never… I never thought I'd see you again, after what happened…"

"You mean after Father abandoned me?" Her voice was quiet and Rei nodded.

"I was so furious with him. That was shortly before I… I did what I did to Shoto. It was my breaking point."

"Father will pay," Todoroki stated. "Not now, but perhaps sometime in the future."

"Precisely. Kazumi, how has your life been up to this point?"

"I lived on the streets for a little while after Father abandoned me. I ended up picking pockets to try and survive. A woman whose wallet I took ended up adopting me as her daughter, if you can believe that."

"And she's done a wonderful job."

"She also has a son our age—Izuku."

"Ah, so you're a Midoriya! Shoto speaks very highly of your adoptive brother. I'd love to meet the family that took you in."

"And I'm sure Mom would love to meet you."

* * *

"This is gonna be rough."

"Deku, I've met your mother before."

"I mean explaining to her how I became a father at sixteen." Eri smiled up at him gently and squeezed his hand. "She'll love Eri, I'm sure."

"How come Aunt Kazumi didn't come with us?" Eri asked.

"She was sparring with your uncle Todoroki today."

"Oh. Okay."

Izuku took a deep breath as he hit the button for his floor. Ochaco was standing by him and there was an awkward silence as they went upward.

_Listen, Green Brother—you just need twenty seconds of courage. Twenty seconds of embarrassing bravery. And I promise—you can use those twenty seconds to do anything you need to do._

Kazumi's words from a few days earlier rang in his head.

_Not yet. If everything goes well today, I'll take your advice._

"Okay, now listen, Eri," he told his daughter, kneeling so they were at eye-level. "Your grandma doesn't know I'm your papa yet. So if she starts to freak out, don't take it personally, okay?"

"Okay, Papa." Eri gave him a thumbs-up.

Izuku smiled and stood up, unlocking the door with his key.

"Mom?" he called.

"Is that you, Izuku?" Inko called back.

"Yeah! And I brought guests!"

Footsteps approached and Inko appeared at the end of the hallway. She smiled at the sight of Ochaco but became confused upon seeing Eri.

"Who is this?"

"Well, remember how Kazumi got in massive trouble for going on a rescue mission against the Yakuza?"

"Yes. I had a lengthy phone call with your teacher when that happened."

"This is Eri. She's the one we rescued."

" 'We'?"

"I was on that mission, too, and so was Uraraka. And we were the ones who got Eri out of there."

"Long story short," added Ochaco sheepishly, "our consequence was different than Kazumi's. We were put in charge of taking care of Eri, so…"

"They're my mama and papa!" cheered Eri, clapping her hands.

Inko blinked, then her eyes began to fill with tears.

"That's adorable! So… so that means I'm a grandmother?"

"Yeah," Izuku confirmed.

Within ten minutes, Inko had pulled out quite a few of Izuku and Kazumi's old clothes… including their old onesies. Eri's eyes lit up at the warm clothes as she dashed into the bathroom to try each of them on, coming out looking more and more adorable.

"Thank you, Grandma!" she squealed.

"Sorry for the trouble," Ochaco laughed.

"It's no trouble. After all, the whole reason I saved these clothes was because I knew Izuku and Kazumi would both have children one day. I just wasn't expecting it so soon!" She paused. "Where _is_ Kazumi?"

"She's training with one of our classmates today," Izuku explained. "But she did say that she's sorry she didn't come with us."

"I heard about her fallout with Katsuki from Mitsuki. Is she okay?"

"She has Todoroki for a sparring partner now, but she's still mad at Kacchan. As for him… I don't think he's dealing with it well."

"I've always thought that he cared about her, deep down. Maybe that's why it happened—because he didn't want to cause her to get hurt."

"That's exactly what I thought."

"Kazumi insisted that it was because he wanted to be Deku's rival instead," added Ochaco. "But my thought is that Bakugo cares about her because he's in love with her."

"But whenever you bring it up, she starts acting like it's disgusting?" Inko laughed.

"Exactly."

Ochaco's phone started going off.

"Oh, sorry! I've got to take this." She headed into Kazumi's room so she wouldn't be rude and answered the call. "Hello?"

_"Hi, sweetie!"_ came the voice of her mother.

"Mom? Why are you calling?"

_"Well, your father and I are in town and we wanted to have lunch with you. Is there any chance you could meet us at the American diner by the courthouse station?"_

"Yes, I could. There's something I need to talk to you both about, anyway. Would you mind if I brought somebody with me?"

_"Of course not! We'll be there at one. Can't wait! Love you!"_

"I love you, too!"

She exited Kazumi's room.

"Well, Inko, my parents have invited me to go to lunch with them. I'm sorry that I can't stay…"

"It's fine, sweetheart. Besides, don't _your_ parents need to meet your daughter, too?" She looked at her son. "And Izuku."

Izuku suddenly felt himself sweating nervously.

_It's fine. You're going to meet the parents of your best friend… who you have a crush on…_

_ Twenty seconds of courage._

_ You can do this._

"Actually, Mom, could you watch Eri for a minute? I need to talk to Uraraka about something."

"Sure." Inko looked happy, but also gave her son a look that said 'watch yourself'.

Ochaco followed Izuku into his room where he closed the door.

_Twenty seconds._

_ You've got this._

"Uraraka, we've known each other for over half a year now," he started. "And we've been through… a lot… together. I met you and my first thought was 'holy whoa, I talked to a girl!' even though Kazumi pointed out that I didn't actually talk. And you were so nice and on the first day of class, I saw you again and I thought you looked good in your uniform. And in your hero costume—okay, so you look good in everything. You're so smart and strong and brave, even if you think you aren't, and that's why… that's why I like you, Uraraka, and I want you to be my girlfriend!"

Ochaco was silent for a moment.

_Oh, crap, I blew it. She's going to think I'm totally weird or that Kazumi dared me to say this or something. I ruined everything!_

"You… like me?"

He looked at her face and noticed her eyes were tearing up.

"Y-yeah. I think you're an amazing person. But I understand if you don't feel the same way! I mean, I'm kinda plain-looking and my hair's always messed up and I'm always mumbling. I never have my act together, I can barely control my Quirk, my sister's _way_ tougher than I am—" He felt her hands on his cheeks. They were warm and soft, but slightly roughened where her pads were.

"Deku. I don't care about how you look or how messed up your hair is. The mumbling is actually really cute to me. And you're more together than I am most of the time. Having control over your Quirk is something you've been working _hard_ on since the beginning of school and you're plenty tough enough. I fell for the amazing person you are, not any of those other things, because you always inspire me to be my best."

_Wait, 'fell for'…?!_

"I'd be happy to be your girlfriend, Deku." She hugged him and he was still in shock before he hugged her back.

_I know my twenty seconds are up, but… dammit, I'm adding five more._

In one movement, he tilted Ochaco's head up and pressed his lips against hers. She kissed him back, electricity sparking through them and filling both with warmth. When they broke apart, all they could do was stare at each other for a moment.

"So… should we tell Eri?" he chuckled.

"Yeah." Ochaco smiled. "And maybe Kazumi, too—she's been teasing me about this for months!"

"Same here, actually. She actually told me this trick called 'twenty seconds of courage' where I do something embarrassingly brave and give myself twenty seconds to do it."

"We'll have to thank her."

* * *

"Mom, Daddy, I'd like you to meet Izuku Midoriya—my boyfriend."

Izuku stiffened upon seeing Ochaco's parents. They were eyeing him with a look that said they were silently judging him to see if he was good enough for their daughter.

"P-pleased to meet you!" he blurted, his face heating up.

"Well, don't just stand there!" her mother stated. "Sit down!"

The two teens (and Eri) obeyed. Eri was still wearing Izuku's old All-Might onesie and looking adorable as ever. Mrs. Uraraka insisted that Izuku call her Aya, while Mr. Uraraka wanted to be called… Mr. Uraraka. Both of them were as taken with Eri as Inko had been, and they were delighted to be grandparents.

"So, you're in the hero course?" Mr. Uraraka asked Izuku.

"Yes, sir. I actually met your daughter during our entrance exam."

"He's the one who took out a giant robot with one punch to save my life," Ochaco added. "I know he's going to be the number-one hero someday."

"Really, now?"

"Papa's the best!" Eri declared. "He reads me bedtime stories and he always makes sure to spend time with me and Mama and everybody else!"

"Sounds like you've got quite a catch there, sweetie," Aya told her daughter with a big smile.

"Mom!" Ochaco blushed and her and Izuku matched in how red their faces were.

"Aunt Kazumi says they're both awkward dorks when it comes to each other," Eri informed her grandparents. "And that's why they turn red a lot."

"Aunt Kazumi?"

"My sister," Izuku explained. "She's, uh, the one who convinced us to be together."

"Well, you'll owe her a thank-you, then."

"I do, because Ochaco and Eri are the best things to ever happen to me."

The Uraraka couple looked at each other and nodded their approval of their daughter's boyfriend.

* * *

At the dorms that night, everyone was studying for a quiz they'd be having the next day. Or, at least, the ones who wanted desperately to pass were studying. Otherwise, they were screwing around with video games or talking about whatever had happened that day. It was Ashido who noticed Ochaco and Izuku sitting _very_ closely… much more so than usual. She crept over, trying not to be noticed, and looked to see… that they were holding hands and talking very quietly as they studied. Her eyes widened and she backed away quietly before signaling to the rest of the class to come over. They did and were as shocked as her.

"Guess the twenty seconds worked, huh?" Kazumi commented, which made her brother and his girlfriend look up.

"Y-yeah, thanks, sis."

"Twenty seconds?" Kaminari repeated.

"Twenty seconds of courage. Take twenty seconds and just do something embarrassingly brave to see what comes of it."

"So, you're together now?" Hagakure inquired.

"Yes, we're together," Ochaco replied. The entire class erupted in applause and cheers for the new couple, including Eri… who'd already known.

Bakugo was the only one who didn't.

_Deku told Round Face how he feels, and he's a nerd. How come I can't do the same thing?_

_ Because she's with Icy Hot. That half-and-half bastard._

He trudged back up to his room and flopped onto the bed, opening up the drawer of his bedside table to take out the picture of Kazumi.

_I screwed up. Sorry, Water Witch._

"Uncle Kacchan?"

He looked up to see Eri in the doorway.

"Hey, pipsqueak. What's up?"

"I saw you leaving and I wanted to come check on you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You should go back with your parents."

"If you're fine, then why are you staring at a picture of Aunt Kazumi?"

He gasped slightly and hid the picture under his pillow, but it was too late; his 'niece' had seen it.

"Okay, fine, I was, but don't tell her."

"Why?"

"Because she hates me. I screwed up with her before you got here and she's hated me ever since. If she finds out about this, it'll be worse."

"Papa says you and Aunt Kazumi were rivals until you ended it because you cared about her and 'cause you hurt her by accident and you didn't want it to happen again."

"That's exactly what happened. I really like your aunt, but she's not going to give me the time of day."

"Use the twenty seconds of courage."

"What's that?"

"It's what Papa used to make Mama his girlfriend!"

"Huh. I'll look into it. Thanks, pipsqueak."

Eri smiled and Bakugo sighed.

_Easier said than done…_

* * *

**Lot of fluff this time.**

** Oh, and for the first time, Kazumi met her birth mama. Yay!**

** And Izuku and Ochaco got together.**

** And somebody told Bakugo to grow a pair… a six-year-old girl.**

** Next time: Kazumi does one-on-one training with Aizawa and Bakugo drags his feet while Izuku and Ochaco are being adorable in the background.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	11. Control

**Comment time!**

** To emiya-excalibur: Well, that sums the chapter up pretty nicely. My favorite thing about writing child characters is that they have little to no filter, meaning them roasting people is extremely believable.**

** To The Keeper of Worlds: From the mouths of babes indeed.**

** And to Johnny Spectre: I love their work, actually. They're the whole reason I fell in love with Eri being Ochaco and Izuku's daughter in the first place!**

** Onto today's chapter!**

* * *

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Aizawa?"

The homeroom teacher of 1-A looked up to see Kazumi standing by his desk.

"Yeah. Miss Midoriya, I understand you discovered a hidden part of your Quirk during the training camp—controlling fluid inside a person's body."

"Yes, sir." She looked frightened and apologetic.

"Relax. You're not in trouble. I asked you to come here because I want to work with you on it."

"Work with me?"

"Help you learn to control it so that sort of thing doesn't happen again, or so you can use it as a last resort."

"Mr. Aizawa, blood Quirks are always seen as—"

"But yours isn't a blood Quirk. It has to do with the liquid inside a person, not blood specifically. For the next few weeks, instead of sparring with Todoroki, you'll be doing one-on-one training with me in order to figure out how it works and how to best control it. I'm the best person to train you on this since I can stop you if it goes too far."

"Okay." She nodded. "I think I get it."

"I think it could be useful as a last resort—say, if a villain is close to getting away, you can halt them in their tracks. Or if a teammate is going too far, you can keep them from crossing the line. We start tomorrow. And don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you just because this is as new as it is."

"I didn't expect you to do that."

"Good. You're dismissed."

Kazumi left the teachers' lounge and headed back to the dorms, where Izuku and Ochaco were playing a board game with Eri and Bakugo in the common room. How _Bakugo_ had gotten roped into it, Kazumi wasn't sure, but she was sure he was losing badly.

"Hey," she greeted the others.

"Hey, what did Mr. Aizawa want?" asked Ochaco.

"He wants to do one-on-one training with me in regards to a… certain aspect of my Quirk."

"The blood thing?" Bakugo sighed.

"Yeah, the blood thing. He wants to help me learn to control it so I can use it as a last resort like if a villain is escaping or a teammate is going out of control."

"I told you that it wasn't necessarily evil," Izuku told her. "You just need to use it in the right kind of situations."

"Training starts tomorrow, so I have to tell Shoto that I can't spar with him for a few weeks." Bakugo looked grumpy at the mention of Todoroki. "What crawled up _your _butt?"

"Nothing. Go tell him."

She rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Kacchan, are you okay?" Izuku inquired.

"I'm fine, nerd! Leave me alone!" He flipped the game board, sending pieces everywhere. Eri started giggling as Bakugo stomped upstairs.

"I think he's becoming uncomfortable with the amount of time Kazumi's spending with Todoroki," suggested Ochaco as she and Izuku began to clean up the pieces. "Almost like he's being possessive."

"But he's not actually talking to her."

"And since when has Bakugo been amazing at communication?"

"You've got a point there."

"All I'm saying is that maybe Kazumi needs to confront him about this straight out."

"I'll talk to her. She's my sister after all."

"I'll finish up here, then. And then you and I can grab dinner like we planned."

Izuku nodded and kissed her on the cheek before he headed up the stairs, where he found Kazumi leaving Todoroki's room.

"Hey, sis," he greeted her.

"Oh, hey, Izuku. What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Kacchan?"

"Listen, Bakugo and I have nothing to say to each other. He's made that pretty clear. And I'm not going to be able to talk to him face-to-face until he apologizes for being such a dick to me."

"Understandable… but I think he's too prideful to apologize first."

"I have nothing to apologize for."

She left the boys' side of the floor and Izuku sighed.

* * *

Kazumi focused on the liquid within Aizawa, making him stiffen like a puppet as she tried to move his arm. It worked, a little, and she let out a deep sigh as she released control.

"That was good. Although Bakugo mentioned you were able to pry a villain's fingers off him and throw the villain into a tree."

"I think that was adrenaline. I was worried about him getting killed and I wasn't thinking."

"You can't rely on adrenaline in the heat of battle. That's why we're working on this. Try again, but try to focus on moving something like my fingers instead of my entire arm."

She nodded, doing the same thing again. She caused his fingers to move as stiffly as his arm had, but there was far more motion than there'd been before. Once again, she released.

"Better. It's slightly painful, but that's to be expected given you're controlling the fluid within my body."

"It's exhausting."

"You're used to seeing the liquids you work with. That's why you're concentrating more. We'll take a short break and then get back to work."

Kazumi sighed and went over to her water bottle.

"Hey, Miss Midoriya."

She looked up to see All-Might entering the gym.

"Hi, All-Might. What are you doing here?"

"I heard Aizawa brought you in for one-on-one training so I came to see what you were working on."

"It's an aspect of my Quirk I didn't know about until recently—controlling the fluids inside a person. He wants me to be able to use it on command rather than by accident, so we're working on how I can do that."

"That seems like a rather… concerning ability."

"It is. The first time I used it, I was so horrified that I couldn't move afterwards."

"Well, you know how powerful One For All is. I understand having that kind of power. It's terrifying and overwhelming."

"Yeah. But I'm doing okay. I'm not able to do as much as I did on pure adrenaline. So far I can only really control fingers."

"Heh. Maybe you'll be able to keep your brother from breaking his."

"Doubtful. He's been doing better lately, though—he hasn't broken any of his bones during training as far as I know. Although I _did_ notice he switched from his arms to his legs. I wonder why?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"No. You know why he swapped?" All-Might sighed.

"During the training camp, your brother pushed himself too far trying to protect Mandalay's nephew."

"Yeah, he busted his arms. I knew that."

"It's a little more complicated. Izuku nearly destroyed them. He was warned by doctors that if too much stress was put on his arms again, he wouldn't be able to use them again. That's why he switched."

"He never told me…"

"If I had to guess, he didn't want you to worry about him too much. Besides, there's been a lot going on lately."

"That's fair, I guess."

"Something on your mind?"

"I… I found my birth family."

"That's fantastic!"

"Not exactly. It's a sticky situation, given my birth father's status, but I'm working through it. Izuku knows that I know who they are, but I didn't tell him that I made contact. My birth mother is in the hospital and I met one of my brothers, but other than that, I haven't really talked to any of them."

"Mind telling me who it is?"

"I would, actually. It's a mess and we're working on it."

"Miss Midoriya, break's over!" called Aizawa.

"Speaking of working on it…"

"Don't push yourself too hard with this ability, okay, kid?"

"Yeah. Thanks, All-Might."

He watched for a few minutes as Kazumi concentrated on Aizawa's hand, forcing the erasure hero to clench it into a fist. Then she collapsed, panting heavily as Aizawa gave her tips on how to improve the new aspect. All-Might smiled as he walked out of the gym, his mind turning to Kazumi.

_Your power levels easily came from a pro in the top ten. The only problem is that all of them either aren't old enough to be your parent or if they are, they don't have a Quirk to cause yours… unless…_

The former number one stopped in his tracks.

_They had a fire Quirk… which combined with some other type… to make water…_

_ Fire and ice._

_ Endeavor. He's your father, isn't he?_

_ Which means you've made contact with Rei through Todoroki._

_ Poor kids…_

* * *

"FUCK YES!"

Kazumi jumped at Bakugo's yell, falling off the couch in the common room and landing on the floor.

"Can I kill him?" she asked Kirishima. "Please? It would make my life easier."

"Sorry, but that would put you in the villains' camp."

"LANGUAGE!" Ochaco snapped towards the explosive blonde.

"I got my provisional license! I'm on the same level as all of you now!"

"Well, that's fantastic," commented Izuku, Eri on his lap as he taught her how to kick Kaminari's ass in _Street Fighter Ultimate_.

"No fair!" whined Kaminari. "She's got her dad in her ear telling her what to do. Let her do it by herself!"

"Okay." Izuku lifted Eri off his lap and let her sit on the couch.

In the next round, she kicked Kaminari's butt without a problem.

"Shameful, Kaminari," snorted Kirishima. "You're letting a _six-year-old_ beat you."

"H-hey! That was just luck!"

Kazumi snickered. Bakugo went up to her, ready to do his version of apologizing.

"Water Witch, you up for a sparring session tomorrow?"

(Hey, I never said it was a _good_ version…)

"Um, no. I'm still doing one-on-one with Aizawa and it's exhausting."

"How is it exhausting?" Iida inquired.

"Well, for starters, the first time I did blood control it was when I was hopped up on adrenaline. To do it on purpose requires frankly _insane_ amounts of concentration and it takes a toll. Why do you think I haven't been doing training during class?"

"Ah."

"That's also why he calls it my 'last resort' for restraining people."

"Call it what it is, Water Witch—puppeteering. You're turning people into your puppets."

She stood up and walked out of the room.

"Rude," Ochaco huffed.

"I know," snorted Bakugo.

"I was talking to you."

"What?!"

"Seriously, dude, have some tact," Kirishima sighed.

"Even _I _wouldn't say something _that_ dumb," Kaminari added.

"This part of her Quirk terrifies her," Izuku explained. "Calling it something like 'puppeteering' makes her feel like she's doing something evil."

"No way in hell. She saved my life with it!"

"But the implications behind it are what scared her. If she had misaimed it, she could've easily hurt you."

"Uncle Kacchan needs to say sorry to Aunt Kazumi," Eri stated bluntly. "And then he needs to tell her how much he—"

"Pipsqueak, I thought we agreed we weren't gonna talk about that."

"Go say sorry."

Bakugo groaned.

"I'm not gonna do that since she's mad at me. Get Icy Hot to calm her down."

"What?"

"I mean, he's her boyfriend, isn't he?" Izuku choked on the glass of water he was drinking, coughing as Ochaco patted him on the back to help him breathe right again.

"No, he's not," Izuku gasped, blinking. "Trust me, Todoroki isn't Kazumi's boyfriend."

"I'm not," Todoroki confirmed, coming in.

"Did you get your license, too?" asked Ochaco.

"I did. And my father has sent an invitation to Kazumi to join his agency for work-study next term."

"That's good." Izuku sighed and Todoroki looked just as unsure. "What's wrong?"

"I worry that it won't end well. She's not exactly a fan of my father."

That seemed… odd to Bakugo. Why would she have an issue with the number-one hero?

And why was she so close to Todoroki?

* * *

Izuku had a dilemma.

It was late. He needed to go to bed. But he was trapped on the couch. His daughter was asleep on his lap and his girlfriend was asleep on his shoulder. Hence, his dilemma; did he wake them up so he could go to bed or let them sleep and just surrender?

There was really no choice.

"Papa…" mumbled Eri in her sleep, clutching his shirt.

_Dammit…_

"Deku…?" Ochaco whispered, opening one eye.

"Hey," he whispered back. She glanced down at Eri and sighed.

"I'll take her up to bed."

"I didn't want to wake either of you up."

"Aw…" She kissed him on the cheek and lifted Eri off his lap… but she was still clutching his shirt. "I don't think Eri wants to let go of you right now."

"I agree."

"Come on, then."

The little family headed up to Eri's room, where the exhaustion of the day finally caught up to the parents as they collapsed onto their daughter's bed. Eri was nestled between them, still sleeping as Ochaco and Izuku unconsciously cuddled with her and each other.

Kazumi poked her head in to say good night and snapped a picture that she sent to the group chat titled 'Green Tea Watch'.

_Tsunami: Went to say good night to my niece and saw this._

_ Pinky: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! NO FAIR NO FAIR NO FAIR!_

_ Invisible Girl: You'd better find out how that happened._

_ Tsunami: Well, you see, it's called my brother can't say no to his daughter._

_ Tsunami: She probably latched on and they both fell asleep while putting them to bed._

_ Tenya: As adorable as this is, I must ask that you wake your brother and send him back to his own room._

_ Pinky: Why is he in this chat again?_

_ Tenya: I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT!_

_ Creati: Thank you for the picture, Tsunami. I'll get it printed for you to put in the album._

_ Tsunami: Thanks, Creati!_

_ Froppy: Aw… they're lucky…_

_ Froppy: Can you imagine how warm it is?_

_ Tsunami: Don't need to. Deku has always had crazy body heat. I called him my human heater when we were little during the winter._

_ Pinky: I'll take note of that for when it gets colder._

_ Red Riot: Uravity better watch out. Pinky's coming for Deku._

_ Tenya: All of you to bed, now!_

_ Tsunami: Killjoy. Night, guys._

* * *

"I can't do this."

"Yes, you can."

"I can't, Shoto. He'll… he'll call me a liar…"

"And that's why I'm going with you."

It was the first day of their new work-study, in which Kazumi had agreed to her twin's proposal to join him at Endeavor's agency. She was going to meet her father for the first time since he'd abandoned her so many years ago and Todoroki had made it clear that he intended to confront their father about her abandonment before anything else. He'd brought her earlier than they were supposed to arrive for that express purpose.

But now she was having second thoughts.

"Ah, Shoto. You've arrived," Endeavor stated as the twins entered his office.

"I have. And I've come early for a reason." He stepped aside to reveal his sister. "This is Kazumi Midoriya. But that's not the name she was born with."

"What is this about?"

"Her name when she was born was Kazumi Todoroki—my twin sister."

Endeavor's eyes widened and his face took on a snarl.

"That's impossible."

"We share memories that are impossible for us both to know the details of otherwise. And Mother recognized her."

"Your sister was a useless brat with a useless water Quirk. How is it that this is her?"

"It got stronger as I got older," she stated, speaking up for the first time. "I was raised by a mother who loved me as if she'd given birth to me herself. But what you did to me… it's always hung over my head. I grew up fearing the day my adoptive family would abandon me the way you did. And it's left me fearful of those Nomu that the League uses because they remind me of you—huge and terrifying."

Endeavor blinked.

"I came here to confront you. To get some closure. And to be the hero you never thought I would be able to be. And you watch—Shoto and I will surpass you in every single way."

Todoroki nodded to confirm her story.

Endeavor sighed.

"I'm sorry that I didn't realize your potential. I watched you during the Sports Festival. Despite your loss, you fought well and your only mistake was your anger."

"With all due respect, my opponent was mocking my adoptive brother. I didn't see a point in remaining calm."

"If we're done here, we can begin for the day," Endeavor told his daughter. "And you'll be meeting the rest of the family soon enough. I accept you as my daughter once again."

"And I reject that acceptation. I've rejected the Todoroki name. I'm a Midoriya. That's the family that raised me and that's the family I'm a part of. I won't throw it all away because my birth father suddenly wants to let me back into the family."

"You're strong."

"No thanks to you."

This was going to be a long work-study, Todoroki realized.

* * *

In the underbelly of the city, however, things were accelerating.

Thanks to everything that had been happening, Shigaraki had gathered information that would prove beneficial for the League. He'd made a mistake when they took Kazumi Midoriya before. He'd taken her alongside the boy who loved her—Katsuki Bakugo. One of the few UA students who could and would stand against the League. But she was also the adopted sister and best friend of Izuku Midoriya, and the twin of Shoto Todoroki. A protégé that had been taken on by Aizawa to help her control part of her Quirk that Shigaraki found very interesting.

The trick was that they had to tread carefully.

One misstep would set them back several months. Any planning was cultivated and debated before being set in stone. And their plan?

Well, it was to once again take Kazumi.

But this time, it would be her and her alone. If they could break her, turn her to the side of villainy, they could use that aspect of her Quirk that so terrified her to their advantage. As an added bonus, they could break Bakugo and Midoriya and Todoroki by showing them what they'd turn her into. And they could break UA by sending the public into a state of fear that would utterly consume the idea of heroes to begin with.

Timing was everything.

So they waited for the right time to strike against UA.

And against class 1-A.

* * *

***sighs***

** Yes, Kazumi's getting kidnapped again.**

** But it won't happen next time. I'll let you all try to figure it out.**

** (I already picked the chapter title for the one after it, anyway…)**

** Next time, we'll have some fall festival fluff and a UA school dance!**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	12. The Dance

**Comment time!**

** To The Keeper of Worlds: Yeah, just keep reading. Also, tea shop? I haven't read the manga but I might look into that for future reference.**

** And to emiya-excalibur: Keep… just keep reading.**

** This chapter was done around 11:35 AM (EST), but it's being posted at night because again, I'm in the car on a road trip. Heading home, actually. Hopefully you all enjoy it!**

** On with the chapter!**

* * *

The fall at UA always brought a sense of change.

The year was nearing its end, and as the leaves turned to red and gold so too did the atmosphere at UA change. It had been months since they'd had any kind of problems with the League and the rest of the year had passed pretty uneventfully. To celebrate, UA had its annual Fall Festival with an added benefit for the students: a school dance, much like those that were held in America during the spring to mark the end of the year.

And despite her recent issues with her birth family (Endeavor being Endeavor and adjusting to the added family she now had) and the fact that Bakugo was still a dick, Kazumi was excited for the festival and the dance.

That is, until about a week before said dance was due to happen.

As it turned out, Kazumi was considered 'prime date material' by the first-year boys. She was the three As, as Ashido put it: attractive, approachable, and available. Not to mention she'd ranked the highest of any female competitor at the Sports Festival, putting her on the public's radar as the top female first-year student.

Her first encounter came in the form of Mineta from General Studies.

To say that he was a 'pervert' would be putting it lightly. He was known to have a serious issue in regards to being handsy with female students and no filter when it came to his dirty thoughts. Kaminari—despite being a pervert himself—at least had that going for him along with standards for his depravity.

She'd come out of the classroom to go to lunch after a chat with Aizawa and she'd been ambushed by the sticky-haired little bastard. He leaned against the wall, smirking at her as he raked his eyes up and down her body in approval.

"Let's dance the night away together, Kazumi. On and off the floor."

She had the appropriate reaction—she'd slapped him _hard_.

Then run to the cafeteria, praying that it was a fluke and that Ashido's theory was wrong.

_"Out of all the girls in our class, Kazumi's gonna get the most guys asking her out."_

_ "Yeah, right," Kazumi scoffed._

_ "No, really. You're the three As and you're one of the top students in our year. They'll want the prestige of landing you as a date!"_

Before she entered the cafeteria, another one of the General Studies students—a guy named Haru Yoshi—stopped her by the door. He also asked her to the dance, though in a less cringe-inducing way than Mineta had. She politely declined, still a little confused and a tad overwhelmed by the amount of romantic attention she was getting.

A couple more guys from Business and Support tried to ask her, too, but she managed to make it to the table where she ate with Izuku, Ochaco, Iida, and Todoroki and sat down, banging her head on the wood.

"You okay?" Ochaco asked.

"Ashido was right," sighed Kazumi. "I've been asked to the dance by four different guys in the last ten minutes alone."

"What was she right about?"

"That I was going to be the target for most of the guys in our year because apparently I'm attractive, approachable, and available."

"Well, it _is_ true," Iida agreed.

"Please don't ask me."

"I wasn't planning to. I'm going with that girl from Support—Mei Hatsume."

"Sweet." Kazumi groaned and banged her head on the table again. "Izuku, get me some food."

"Sure. Just try not to get overwhelmed, okay, sis?"

"I'll try…"

Todoroki sighed.

"It's not fair that you're being put into this sort of position."

"She's one of the top female students in our year," pointed out Ochaco.

"And if you weren't with my brother, you'd be getting this kind of attention, too," Kazumi informed her best friend. "But you two are a power couple and nobody wants to mess with that dynamic."

"It would be the case for you if you—"

"Finish that sentence and I'm soaking all your socks in the dorms."

"Okay, fine. Fair enough. But you're gonna have to say yes to somebody."

"Not if I don't wanna."

"You sound like a child," Iida admonished her.

Bakugo, on the other hand, overheard the conversation that they were having and gripped the chopsticks in his hand so hard they almost broke under the pressure. He had no right to be possessive over Kazumi. Absolutely none. He'd screwed up with her and that was the price. But he still felt _angry_ at everyone who was making her so uncomfortable.

_How do I fix it?_

"She turned me down, but I'll ask her again later," he heard Mineta say. "Kazumi's pretty hot."

"I know, right?" one of the other General Studies extras agreed. "And she's super-nice compared to some of the girls in _our_ class."

"Somebody's gonna snap her up," added a boy in the Support course.

_Snap._

The chopsticks in Bakugo's hand finally broke.

"Whoa, Bakugo, calm down," Kirishima warned. "Just because some guys are interested in Kazumi doesn't mean it's bad."

"They're losers, every one of 'em."

"True, but you kinda screwed yourself when it comes to being with her. This could be your chance to apologize by being her date."

"I'm not apologizing."

"I'm saying you ask her to the dance as an apology. It's a step in the right direction."

"Whatever. It's not like any of them are even on her radar."

But the next day, it appeared that word had spread. Kazumi started hiding behind Izuku and her other friends when she traveled the halls to avoid anybody approaching her. She was miserable and that was making Bakugo miserable, too. But he couldn't bring himself to ask her to the dance.

Until, that is, Monoma of class B took it into his head to ask her.

"Nobody in any other class is good enough for you," he told her, smiling in that way that infuriated the members of 1-A. "Clearly, I'm your best option for a date. Go with me and nobody will bother you for the rest of the week, I promise."

That was it. The straw that broke Bakugo's resolve to not ask her.

"Well, if…" she started.

"She ain't going with you, asshole," Bakugo declared, walking up.

"Why not?" Monoma asked, looking annoyed.

"Because she's _my_ date. Now back the hell off before I set you on fire."

Monoma left and the other hopefuls dispersed, leaving Kazumi alone with Bakugo.

"Was that your roundabout and stupid way of asking me?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Depends. Did it work?"

"A little. Nobody's going to bother asking me now because they think I'm going with you and nobody wants to cross you."

"So we're doing this."

"Yep. We're… each other's date."

They both froze for a moment, then turned to each other at the same time.

"DON'T TELL MY MOM!" they yelled in unison, panicking.

* * *

The day before the dance, Kazumi found herself dragged out to the festival celebration alongside her female friends… save for Ochaco, who was spending the day with her boyfriend and daughter. Kazumi kind of just followed them with a dejected expression. There was a lot bouncing around in her mind, between her recent meeting of her other siblings (save for one brother who'd gone missing) and Bakugo randomly claiming her as his date for the dance. She'd also mastered her 'blood control' ability to the point where Aizawa just had her practice on occasion to prevent her from losing control.

"I heard that Bakugo's playing drums for some kind of showcase today," commented Ashido.

"Oh, yeah," chuckled Kazumi. "People used to joke that him, Izuku, and I would form some kind of band if the whole hero thing didn't work out. I don't know why. Izuku can't play anything but keyboard and all I can do is sing."

"Why didn't you join the showcase? Ribbit."

"I have really bad stage fright."

"I call bull on that," Ashido snorted. "You ranked higher than any other girl at the Sports Festival and you put on a great show."

"In regards to my Quirk, I don't have a problem. But when my singing gets involved, I'm only comfortable when I'm in front of Izuku and Mom. Otherwise, I freeze and can't get out a single note. I mean, when it's just me. I sing along to the radio a bit."

"Everyone does that, though," Hagakure pointed out.

"Eh." Kazumi shrugged. "I'm really looking forward to seeing Kacchan perform at any rate."

"You called him Kacchan!" gasped Ashido. "Does this mean you're not mad at him anymore?"

"He's apologized in his own way. His pride won't let him actually say the words 'I'm sorry' but I know how he works. So yes, I've forgiven him. Besides, our rivalry was kinda stupid and I've got other stuff going on right now."

"I heard from Ochaco that you found your birth family," added Yaoyorozu. "And that you've made contact with them."

"It's slow-going at the moment. There's a lot to sort through because of all the legal ramifications for abandoning a child with a Quirk, and the fact that there's a definite disconnect between the way my siblings were raised and how I was raised… it's a mess. Plus, my birth father is… kind of a big name as a pro hero, so we have to tread carefully. None of it's being made public. I haven't even told Ochaco which family it is."

"And you shouldn't until you're ready." Yaoyorozu put a gentle hand on Kazumi's shoulder. "You should focus on being the best hero you can and proving that it doesn't matter where you came from."

"Thanks."

"I noticed that you have far fewer suitors hanging around," joked Jiro, trying to lighten the mood. "Any reason for that?"

"Yeah. I said yes to somebody and nobody wants to mess with him."

"Was it Todoroki?"

"No. Ew. Actually…" She blushed slightly. "It was Kacchan. He came up while Monoma—of all the fricking people—was trying to ask me to the dance and said that I was his date."

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" shrieked Ashido. "Okay, that is _too cute_!"

"He only asked me because he was getting sick of watching me be harassed."

"No, he likes you! He totally, _totally_ likes you!"

Kazumi rolled her eyes and went over to a game booth run by a member of the Support course while Ashido pulled out her phone.

_Pinky created a new group chat: WATER BOMB SQUAD._

_ Pinky added Deku, Uravity, Tenya, Shoto, Creati, Invisible Girl, Red Riot, Froppy, Chargebolt, and Earphone Jack to the chat._

_ Pinky: Well, it's official! Bakugo sort of asked Tsunami out!_

_ Deku: WHAT?! SHE DIDN'T TELL ME!_

_ Earphone Jack: Apparently he asked her so she would stop getting harassed by all the status-seekers._

_ Tenya: I would've done the same if I didn't already have a date._

_ Chargebolt: Seriously, and it was only the guys not in the hero course asking her._

_ Uravity: Nope. Monoma tried and that's what got Bakugo to move._

_ Red Riot: I told him to ask her, just so you all know._

_ Pinky: Yes! Thanks, Red Riot!_

_ Froppy: She's calling him Kacchan again, at least._

_ Deku: OH THANK GOD._

_ Deku: Do you have any idea how awkward it was to hear her call him Bakugo when she's called him Kacchan for so long?_

_ Pinky: I'm pulling her out of the festival in about an hour._

_ Pinky: SHOPPING IS PRIORITY RIGHT NOW._

_ Creati: Perhaps we should all go._

_ Creati: Except Uravity. You should spend the day with Deku._

_ Uravity: Ooh, actually, he said I should go, too._

_ Uravity: He's going to spend the rest of the day with Eri._

_ Pinky: URAVITY YOU LUCKY LITTLE_

_ Pinky: Sorry, didn't want to insult you._

_ Invisible Girl: Girls are meeting up at the gates in an hour. Boys, you make sure Bakugo doesn't screw this up._

_ Red Riot: Noted!_

_ Chargebolt: Got it._

_ Shoto: We will do our best._

* * *

Somehow, word had gotten back to his mother.

Bakugo was busily trying to make his hair look semi-decent when his door opened to reveal Mitsuki, looking a little too happy for his tastes and he knew that somebody—and he was going to kill whoever it was—had told her that he was going to the dance with Kazumi.

"What?!" he snapped.

"I heard you have a date for the dance tonight. Guess I'm not going to turn old and gray before I have grandchildren after all."

"It's a fucking _dance_, not my wedding."

"So who's the lucky girl?"

_Oh thank God whoever it was didn't tell her it was Kazumi…_

"I mean, they must have a lot of patience to put up with your ass for a night."

_Shit, she's not going to leave me alone unless I tell her._

"Spill. Who is it?"

"It's Kazumi, okay?"

Mitsuki went silent.

"Listen, old hag, it was only because she was constantly being badgered by losers who wanted her for her status. Not because I like her. She's a pain in my ass but I didn't want her to end up going with some guy who only saw her as a status symbol."

"If that's what you're telling yourself, then fine. But I watched you two grow up together." This was the most gentle he'd ever heard his mother go. "You care about her, Katsuki. You always have, even if you didn't show it in the most conventional way. And I was worried about you with that fight you had with her a while back."

"Yeah, well… so what if I care about her? She's got a lot of shit going on right now and she doesn't need me adding onto the pile."

"Just… promise me something, then. Promise me you'll give her this one night. Show her a good time."

"Sure." He went back to struggling with his hair.

"Oh, that's a losing battle," Mitsuki told him. "You're better off spending your time getting the girl a corsage."

"Will you _get out_?!"

But still, he put down the comb and grabbed his wallet, heading towards the florist that was thankfully still open. Bakugo selected a small array of pale blue and white flowers for Kazumi, knowing that this was the proper thing to do on this kind of occasion. Besides, those were the colors that Ashido had texted him in case he was thinking of getting flowers in the first place.

As he headed back towards UA, a bundle of nerves settled in his stomach about how the night would go. Maybe Kazumi had changed her mind. Maybe she'd decided to go with one of the other guys from their class or worse, one of the others who had asked her in the first place.

In the dorms, he wasn't the only guy waiting. Deku was sitting on the couch, stiff as a board. Kaminari kept checking his watch. Iida was nowhere to be seen, oddly enough, though he was probably picking up his own date. Kirishima leaned against the wall and Ojiro tapped his foot slightly impatiently.

"Papa!" came a voice from the stairs. And there was the youngest resident of their dorms, dressed in a pale pink dress and looking adorable as ever. She ran towards Deku and jumped into his lap.

"Hey, Eri," he greeted her.

"Don't I look pretty, Papa? Grandpa Toshi said I can go to the dance, too!"

"You look adorable!" Deku hugged his daughter and she started giggling.

For a moment, Bakugo could see himself and a little girl with long blonde hair and ice-blue eyes, wearing a pale blue dress and calling _him_ papa.

Then he shook that thought from his mind.

_It's a dance, not my wedding._

"Mama's almost ready! She's just helping Aunt Kazumi with her hair!" Eri continued.

Then, as if to punctuate her sentence, the first of the girls came down the stairs. It was Yaoyorozu, wearing a simple red dress that in actuality had probably cost a fortune. She was followed by Ashido dressed in electric blue and Hagakure, who was wearing a similar pale pink dress to Eri's but longer. Jiro looked like her dark purple dress physically hurt her to wear it. Tsuyu's dark green ensemble was exactly what everybody had expected.

And then came the last two.

First was Ochaco, who was also in a pink dress. Hers had off-the-shoulder sleeves and a pink flower had been put in her hair as an accent. She still looked nervous as she looked straight towards Deku for approval.

Bakugo glanced at the green-haired boy.

Deku's mouth was open as he looked at his girlfriend, standing up and crossing over to her slowly as if he couldn't believe she was actually real.

"Is it too much?" Ochaco asked.

"I-it's perfect! You look amazing, Ochaco. Trust me."

He tilted her head back for a kiss and Kaminari and Kirishima started whooping and whistling. It all faded into the background for Bakugo, though, as his eyes landed on Kazumi.

Her blue dress perfectly fit her, the sleeves covering her shoulders and coming down to her elbows. The skirt of the dress had a gradient effect to it, starting white at the waist and slowly turning to dark blue at the hem. Her hair was put into an elegant bun with two strands let loose to frame her face.

_She's beautiful._

That was the first coherent thought that went into Bakugo's mind and he knew. He knew that Kazumi Midoriya was it for him the way Ochaco was it for Deku. And she was _his_ for tonight, even if they went right back to normal tomorrow.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the corsage.

"The hag suggested I get this for you," he stated, holding it out.

"Put it on her wrist," hissed Ashido in his ear. He opened the box and took Kazumi's hand—ignoring how soft it felt—to put the corsage on her wrist. It fit perfectly.

"Thanks, Kacchan."

His heart melted at hearing her call him that again. 'Bakugo' had felt so cold and _wrong_ coming from her.

"We'd better get going, right?" she laughed.

"Yeah, whatever. C'mon."

"Wait," Deku called, running up the stairs. He came back down with a camera.

"Ooh, yeah, pictures!" cheered Ashido.

And when that was all said and done, they headed to the dance.

* * *

For one night, Kazumi forgot everything.

She forgot about her birth family, about the stress of her Quirk, about the secrets she was keeping from her friends, and she just let herself have fun. Bakugo didn't ditch her the instant they got to the dance, instead asking her to join him on slow songs despite knowing that neither of them really knew how to do that kind of thing. And she found herself acknowledging part of her that she'd kept under lock and key for so long.

She had a crush on Katsuki Bakugo.

And he most likely felt the same way.

Still, she wasn't going to risk everything tonight. Maybe during the winter holidays, she'd act on her feelings, but for now she'd keep them to herself. Besides, she wouldn't give her friends the satisfaction of seeing them together… at least not yet.

After so many months of mixed signals, angry exchanges, and just flat-out confusing messages, she finally felt like she had a clear-cut answer. Like maybe she had a future with him beyond a stupid rivalry that had never really gone anywhere.

Then a girl from another class showed up and pulled Bakugo away. She was tall and pretty with long blonde hair and a curvy figure that was shown off through her dress as she pulled maneuvers Kazumi could see were flirting. And given that Bakugo didn't immediately blow the girl off or snap at her to leave him alone, Kazumi knew he didn't mind it.

_See? You're being abandoned again._

That little voice that she'd thought she'd silenced so long ago began to speak.

_Nobody wants you. Nobody except your adoptive mother. Your brother's moved forward. Kacchan has that girl. And your birth family is just trying to avoid consequences._

_ Useless girl._

_ Stupid girl._

"I'm going to go home," she told Ochaco in a quiet voice.

"You want to wait for Bakugo?"

"No. He's busy. Tell him I said good night."

She walked alone back to the dorms, her heart feeling like it had been splintered. Within a few moments, however, she was joined by her two brothers who attended UA and were in her class.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked, wiping her eyes.

"Ochaco said you were leaving and I got worried," Izuku sighed. "And you're crying."

"I'm fine, I swear."

"You're not fine," Todoroki insisted. "You're in pain. I thought you were enjoying yourself tonight."

"I was. And then that blonde-haired skank showed up and…"

"And what?" Izuku pressed.

"The little voice came back. The one that told me I was abandoned because nobody could ever want me. It said I've been abandoned again."

"Well, you shouldn't be alone," Todoroki told her. "I'll stay with you at the dorms until you feel better. That way, Izuku can spend more time with his daughter."

Kazumi nodded.

"She needs him more than I do at this point. Thank you. Thank you both."

Outside the dance, however, the blonde girl walked onto the street and into a dark alley a few blocks away. She turned to gray sludge to reveal another blonde girl, this one with her hair in twin buns on her head and a bloodthirsty smile as she pulled out her phone and called a number.

"Phase one is complete," she reported.

_"Good work, Toga. Now we just wait for the next step to present itself."_

"Yes, sir, Shigaraki…"

* * *

**Bakuzumi was almost canon. Then Toga screwed it up.**

** Anyway, next time will feature more angry Bakugo, more angry Kazumi, and the League putting their plan into motion for real.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	13. Firestorm

**Comment time!**

** To emiya-excalibur: Toga didn't see them because they were being a couple off somewhere else and didn't come back onto the floor until after she'd gotten Bakugo away from Kazumi. Also, yes, give our water daughter all the hugs and all the good brothers, too.**

** To bens6757: I know what you're saying, but Kazumi's water-body is actually inspired by that of Juvia from Fairy Tail, meaning that her Quirk also affects her clothes.**

** And to The Keeper of Worlds (I was waiting for your review of chapter 12 before I posted this): I might use that later. It sounds really cute. But I'm not using it yet because we have something else to get to at the moment.**

** Here we go…**

* * *

A noticeable chill was in the air after the dance.

Both a literal one and a figurative one. Whatever uneasy peace had been brokered between Kazumi and Bakugo was now broken. She was actively avoiding him now and Bakugo seemed to be confused as to why. Not to mention both Izuku and Todoroki were also treating him with some degree of aloofness that was especially unusual for All-Might's successor. Most of 1-A wasn't sure what had caused this change and none of them welcomed it.

Ashido opened the 'Water Bomb Squad' chat the day after the dance and found a message waiting for her.

_Deku has left the chat._

_ Shoto has left the chat._

Obviously, neither of them supported Kazumi and Bakugo having a relationship anymore, which was another strange thing added on to the pile. And it seemed that nobody could get any information out of any of the people involved. Kazumi seemed to have just… shut down, for lack of a better term. She kept to herself more than ever, only speaking to Izuku and Todoroki if they approached her. Thankfully, she was paired with the fire-and-ice hero for their final exam and nobody else had to deal with her.

Still, the fact remained that something was wrong. Something was _very_ wrong.

When school was over with for the winter holidays, Kazumi and Izuku returned to their mother, who was immediately able to tell that Kazumi was hurting and badly. Inko made sure her daughter felt as comfortable as possible and suggested she talk when she was ready.

One morning, though, Kazumi came out much earlier than usual—before Izuku had even finished his morning run. Inko was making breakfast in the kitchen when Kazumi sat down at the table.

"Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I… I found my birth family."

Inko froze.

For the entirety of the time she'd had Kazumi as a daughter, she'd both dreaded and hoped for that day to come—when Kazumi would meet her birth family. The hope came from finally knowing what kind of people her precious daughter had come from… and the dread from the fear that perhaps the family would take Kazumi back.

"You did?"

"Yes. And don't worry—this is the family I've chosen. Even if their name will bring me more opportunities, I'm a Midoriya through and through."

"So what's the name?"

"Todoroki."

"A-as in… Endeavor?" Kazumi nodded and Inko looked ready to break something. "He abandoned you. And you're still making contact."

"I'm avoiding him as much as possible. But my siblings and my birth mother… I'm making sure those bridges are built." She smiled. "Mother even said she wants to meet you!"

"She did?!"

"Yeah! She said she owes you a thank-you for keeping me happy and safe all these years."

"It's up to you when we go, sweetheart."

"How about today, after Izuku rinses off in the shower?"

"All right, then. As long as your _birth father_ stays out of it." Kazumi had never heard Inko use as much venom when she spoke as when she said 'birth father'.

_Okay, so Mom's a badass, too._

While on the train to the hospital, Izuku couldn't help but wonder what Rei Todoroki was like. On the one hand, she'd scalded Todoroki and scarred him for life when he was a child. On the other, she'd married Endeavor not of her own free will and according to Todoroki, his mother was a kind and gentle soul. Kazumi had confirmed as much for Izuku when she'd mentioned that Todoroki had overheard their conversation and taken her to meet the woman who brought her into the world.

Still, the ill-treatment of his classmate filled him with a slight worry.

_How will Rei react to us?_

As it turned out, the 'kind and gentle soul' turned out to be accurate as Kazumi opened the door to her birth mother's hospital room and the white-haired woman immediately crossed to hug her. But she wasn't alone in the room. Todoroki was there, as were his older siblings: Fuyumi, Toya, and Natsuo. Endeavor himself was thankfully absent and Rei made eye contact with Inko.

"Hello," Inko greeted her daughter's birth mother, nervous. "My name is Inko Midoriya. I'm Kazumi's adoptive mother."

Rei smiled and offered a hug to the other woman.

"Thank you. Thank you for raising her."

Inko couldn't help but hug back.

"You're welcome."

* * *

With the recent discovery of Kazumi's birth family came another solution to a long-time mystery: her true birthday. Unsurprisingly, it was January 11, the same day as her twin's (duh). But now that Izuku had that information, he had become hellbent on throwing his dear sister a sixteenth birthday party to remember. And even though the younger Midoriya (because now they knew she was a few months younger) tried to dissuade him from going overboard, this is Izuku we're talking about. The possibility of her birthday being more toned down went completely out the window once the rest of class 1-A got involved.

But even before that, she had an announcement to make.

Her and Todoroki.

Once the winter holidays were over and the members of 1-A got together in the dorms to prepare for the upcoming celebration, Kazumi stood before her classmates and took a deep breath before speaking.

"As you all probably know, last term, I discovered the identity of my birth family." She rubbed her arm nervously. "I haven't told you all who they are for a number of reasons, not the least of which being the clusterfuck of issues that came with it. But… I've made contact, and I'm starting to build connections with them. So now it's time to let all of you know…" She nodded to Todoroki, who stood beside her.

"She's my twin sister," he stated in his usual tone.

Ashido started screaming and shaking Kirishima, who looked just as shell-shocked as her. A flurry of questions came from their classmates, such as how the two had known and were they going to have a joint celebration. Then the question of how long Izuku had known came into focus and it all shifted between him, his sister, and her twin. The feeling in the air was overall jubilant and excited, with a hint of disdain towards the number-one hero who'd abandoned their classmate because she wasn't like her brother despite being just as powerful as he was. Her choice to remain a Midoriya was also applauded.

Even once things had slightly calmed down, the conversation instead turned to ensuring Todoroki and Kazumi would have the best birthday celebration possible. However, news broke a few hours later that a small contingent of class 1-A would be put out on assignment in pairs due to a recent rise in suspected League activity. And to put the icing on the cake, Kazumi was put with Bakugo and Izuku with Todoroki. Other members of the class were going, as well, but Kazumi wished she could've been with anybody but Bakugo.

Bakugo, on the other hand, had mixed feelings. As happy as he was to have a chance to talk to her again (and maybe swallow his pride long enough to apologize properly), he was also still confused as to why she was so upset in the first place. He hadn't mentioned it to anybody, but he also had tried not to be angry with her for being upset. Somewhere deep down he suspected it had entirely to do with that weird blonde girl at the dance who had been blatantly flirting with him for the better part of ten minutes while he tried to be polite and not make a massive scene so he could easily get back to Kazumi. But by the time he had, she was gone and so was Todoroki.

_She has this fear that people she cares about will all leave her._

Something Deku had said to him a long time ago rang in his memories and he wanted both to kick himself and blow up Endeavor's stupid face for not considering the long-term of what being abandoned as a kid meant. Of _course_ Kazumi would see it as him abandoning her like her old man had when she was a toddler. Despite her brave front, Kazumi had much more fear than she let people in on. He'd learned to read her over the past year to better help her work through shit when it got tough. In his own way, of course—no way he was going to be in the Deku school of 'let me cry on you because I'm sad you went through all that bullshit'.

They were patrolling one of the areas where the activity had been suspected and Kazumi was being quiet as she glanced up and down alleyways. Bakugo couldn't bring himself to break that silence, instead providing light for her when she needed it and not pressing the mountain of things that went unsaid between them. Eventually they temporarily split up to cover a larger block.

Then there were footsteps.

Kazumi turned just in time to see Himiko Toga leap from the shadows and tackle Kazumi to the ground, holding a knife above her face as she gripped Kazumi's hair.

"Pretty girl," cooed Toga, giggling like a madwoman as she slammed the water hero's head into the pavement hard enough to cause bleeding. "I'm not supposed to hurt you too much, you know."

_Slam._

"Only enough to get some of your blood."

_Slam._

"And to knock you out."

_Slam._

Kazumi's vision began to waver as black spots appeared in her eyes. She couldn't think. She couldn't see. A muffled voice, as if she were underwater, met her ears.

"_What the hell are you doing, you fucking bitch?!"_

_ K-Kacchan…?_

She suddenly felt her body being lifted and thrown rather roughly over somebody's shoulder. Definitely not Bakugo's, based on the muffled curses she could barely hear.

_"Get the fuck back here! Dammit—KAZUMI!"_

_ Kazumi… he never calls me that._

_ This must be a bad dream._

* * *

Bakugo's feet hit the pavement as he pursued the blood-obsessed weird girl and the freak who Kazumi had dubbed 'knockoff Deadpool' back when they were kidnapped all those months ago. Kazumi was over Knockoff's shoulder, her eyes half-open and blood dripping from the back of her head where the weird girl had slammed it into the pavement. She was barely conscious and definitely had a concussion of some kind from the blunt-force trauma.

_Shit! FUCK!_

The League members ducked into a building, Bakugo following them inside just as Deku and Todoroki came around the corner to see him disappear. They called it in and waited for backup, wondering what was going on as he ran around like a madman through the maze-like former hotel. He finally kicked down the right door to what had once been a ballroom, where Kazumi was still held by the two villains, plus a third who'd clearly been waiting there for a while.

"Nice of you to join us," stated the man with blue fire coming from his hand.

"Let her go!" snapped Bakugo.

"I don't think so." Patchwork (as Bakugo thought of him) tapped Kazumi, who was still bleeding and rapidly losing consciousness. "Not when she's so vital to our whole plan here."

Bakugo was about to spark up his hands before he realized something was off and sniffed the air.

_Gasoline._

"It may be old fashioned, but it's still effective," Patchwork sighed. "All it will take is one spark and you'll be trapped here."

Tears pricked at the eyes of the explosive blonde. Kazumi's eyes focused for a moment and met his.

_"Go…"_ she mouthed. _"I'll be okay…"_

"I'm not abandoning her!" he yelled.

As if to prove a point, Patchwork sent a tiny spark of his Quirk to the floor, igniting the gasoline and starting a raging inferno that quickly surrounded Bakugo and filled the room with smoke. The deadly air began to fill his lungs, making him cough violently. The villains all had masks to defend against the smoke and the weird girl even put one over Kazumi's face.

"We'll be going now," stated Knockoff in a dignified tone. "So _see ya_, hero wannabe!"

Bakugo launched himself forward, his fingers barely grazing Kazumi's as Knockoff leapt away with her, laughing maniacally. The explosive blonde's eyes began to water from the smoke and everything became hazy. He couldn't breathe. As he collapsed on the floor, the last thing he saw was Kazumi's eyes close as she was brought through an exit somewhere.

Then everything went black.

* * *

It took them too long to get inside.

Izuku had been frantic as soon as the building began smoking and Todoroki began to try to fight it with his ice. The smell of gasoline was apparent and they both knew it had been a trap. As the pros arrived and began to fight the fire, Izuku and Todoroki ran inside to find Bakugo. He was lying on an untouched area of a condemned ballroom, his breathing ragged from smoke inhalation. He was unconscious but alive.

"Ka… zumi…" he rasped, barely audible. "Save… Kazumi…"

And then they knew why he'd charged in.

Kazumi had been taken again and he'd tried to save her, the villains starting the fire as a diversion and as a way to take him out. Izuku put Bakugo's arm over his shoulder as Todoroki froze a path for them to follow to safety. As they exited the old hotel, the place collapsed. An ambulance arrived a minute later, the paramedics taking Bakugo and putting him under an oxygen mask so he could breathe while they treated the few burns he had sustained.

"Was anybody else inside?" asked Aizawa, rushing up. "Where's your sister?"

"Gone," Izuku whispered, clenching his hands into fists. "Kacchan tried to save her, but she was gone by the time we got there."

"Midoriya, you ride with Bakugo in the ambulance. Todoroki, help them get the flames down so it doesn't spread to the rest of the block."

Izuku climbed into the back of the emergency vehicle. He'd never seen Bakugo look so… powerless. The gauntlets on his costume had been taken off to help the emergency crew better treat him, and the oxygen mask really hammered in that for all his power, for all the flash that Bakugo's Quirk gave him, he was as human as anybody else. And it wasn't his fault that he hadn't been able to get to Kazumi in time. With the gasoline, he'd probably been afraid to use his Quirk for fear that he'd blow the whole building up.

_I shouldn't have hesitated!_

"De…ku?" Bakugo croaked, his eyes opening slightly.

"Kacchan, go back to sleep. You're on your way to the hospital."

"The… patchwork bastard… and that blood chick… Kazumi's hurt… bad. Help her… first."

His eyes closed again.

His words, however, struck terror into Deku. Kazumi was hurt. And he could remember seeing blood leading into the hotel after Bakugo had run inside.

_No… please, don't let her be dead. Let my sister be alive. She's got so much to live for…_

* * *

_ Beep… beep… beep…_

Bakugo woke up at the unfamiliar sound and the whirring that followed it. All he could see was white above him. Pain danced up and down his bandaged arms and it hurt a little to breathe. Turning his head to the right, he could see that he was hooked up to an EKG and in a hospital bed. An actual hospital bed, not the infirmary at UA. On his other side, there was a table with a small pot of marigolds on top. Their fiery orange color immediately made him think of Kazumi.

_"They're not from around here, are they?"_

_ "No, but they remind me of explosions. Like the ones you do, Kacchan. I thought they might help you feel better!"_

_ "Thanks… I guess."_

_ "Even if you hate me, I still want you to get well soon!"_

_ Dammit…_

Maybe it had been a nightmare—Kazumi being kidnapped, that is. His aching arms and lungs made it clear the fire had been real. And she'd brought the marigolds as a get-well-soon gift. The thought made him smile a bit.

_Yeah. She'll come through any minute now._

And when the door opened, he looked to see if it was her.

His hopes crashed when he saw Deku with a bag.

"Hey, Kacchan," he sighed.

"Deku. Where's your sister?" Panic began to rise.

"She… she was taken last night. You told me that."

"No, seriously, don't fuck with me, Deku!" Tears stung at his smoke-reddened eyes. "Where is she?!"

"We looked everywhere. I was up all night trying to find her once they brought you to the hospital but I didn't have any luck."

"DAMMIT!" Bakugo immediately broke into a coughing fit.

"Please, try to stay calm. You need to heal."

"Fuck that—Kazumi's in trouble! Big trouble—that psycho blood chick slammed her head into the pavement at least four times and she has a concussion!"

"What?!"

"I need to get out of here."

Suddenly, Deku was holding him down.

"Kacchan, this isn't going to find her. You're hurt badly and your lungs need to heal before you go out there!"

Bakugo relented, falling back on the bed.

"I failed. I couldn't even… I couldn't even save somebody I care about. How the fuck am I gonna be a hero?!"

"Don't—you don't think _I_ feel like a failure?! I could've rushed in there as soon as you did, but Todoroki and I waited for backup! We should've gone after you, but we didn't! If anything, it's _my_ fault she's gone!"

Tears streamed down the green-haired boy's face as he sobbed.

"This is the second time in a _year_ where I could've saved her but I didn't! My own sister! It _hurts_, doesn't it?!"

The blonde blinked at his old friend.

"Hurts like a bitch," he croaked, finally. "Fucking Christ."

"Your mom, um, brought the marigolds," Deku stated once he'd calmed down. "She knew Kazumi used to give them to you when you were sick, so she thought they might help. And… I brought these."

He held up two familiar books—one with a gold spine and the other silver, the covers green.

_Kazumi's albums._

"I know looking back when we were kids isn't exactly your thing, but… I thought you might like to see some of the pictures again."

"…thanks."

"Listen, I know I haven't been… the best friend to you over the past couple months—"

"Because of what happened at the dance?"

"Exactly."

"I fucked it up. I wasn't thinking and Kazumi had to pay for it."

"Well, I'm going to head back to the dorms. I need to fill everybody in on what happened and make sure Eri's safe. Be careful."

"See you."

He sat in silence for a couple hours, drifting off to sleep and waking up when he had a nightmare of the absent Kazumi being consumed by fire while she bled to death. In the nightmares, though, it was Bakugo himself who started the fire, not Patchwork. His mother came in to check on him frequently and even his classmates stopped by to see how he was doing.

It was after visiting hours when he remembered the albums.

He picked up the one she'd had that first day in the dorms, the one she'd refused to let him touch. In the worn faux leather, he could see faint imprints of her fingers and worn spots where she'd held the book tightly. He knew full well that her albums were her prized possessions and took great care as he opened the one with a gold spine.

The first picture was of her, Inko, and Deku, the day she'd been adopted. Her hair was in adorable pigtails that made his heart clench as he remembered pulling on them while they were in kindergarten. She'd stopped wearing them during first grade, opting instead for wearing her hair down or in a bun.

Then came the one of him and Kazumi standing on either side of Deku.

Photo after photo of a young Kazumi with her mother, with her brother, with the other kids in their neighborhood. He remembered how much of a dick he'd been to her from the day they met, just a month before she was adopted.

_I'm sorry._

Those two words he had been too prideful to say before were now on the tip of his tongue.

And then one photo—unfamiliar and unmentioned—caught his eye.

A five-year-old Kazumi was kissing a five-year-old him, the way kids do when they imitate adults, and his eyes widened. It was slightly off-center compared to the others, meaning it had been taken out of the album, so he pulled it out and found a note in Kazumi's neat handwriting on the back.

_I don't remember this at all. But it undeniably happened. Kacchan asked me to the dance at the end of the Fall Festival—at least, in his own way—and now I can't stop thinking about this happening now that we're older. It's been a decade since this picture was taken and I think… I think I might like him. Maybe the girls were right and he treats me differently because he feels the same way? I have no idea. But I know that I have a crush on him and I think we can build a relationship if things go all right._

_ But I'm scared._

_ I'm scared he'll realize that I'm useless, and that I'm not worth having around. I've been abandoned before and it would hurt so fucking much for it to happen again. Please let tomorrow go right. I need it to go right because I love him._

Tears dripped down his cheeks as he reread the last three words.

_I love him._

_ I love him._

_ I love him._

She loved him. He was volatile, foul-mouthed, hot-tempered, and downright cruel and she loved him anyway. And now she was gone, taken from him right before his eyes and he hadn't been able to save her. Some hero he was turning out to be.

No.

He couldn't be a hero, not when he couldn't even save one person.

Kazumi had been there for so long, and now that she was gone there was a hole in his life. She'd worked as hard as he had to get to where they were. And to the villains, that hard work meant nothing. Her life meant nothing.

He gripped the blankets as he came to a realization: he had to leave UA.

* * *

***hides***

** I warned you all. The fluff has ended and the hardcore feels have begun.**

** Kazumi won't be rescued next chapter. Instead, it'll be Bakugo dealing with his emotional fallout as he's allowed to go home from the hospital (to his actual house and not UA) and the reality of everything sinks in. And we'll also go check on her while she deals with being a prisoner for longer than a day.**

** Yay**

** Oh, and when the next chapter goes up, pay attention to its title. It'll tell you what kind of music to listen to while reading.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish.**


	14. 21 Guns

**Chapter title taken from the Green Day song of the same name.**

** Comment time!**

** To The Keeper of Worlds: You are right, my friend. And shit is going down.**

** And to emiya-excalibur: *author's evil grin increases with tension* I can't wait to read your thoughts on this chapter.**

** You might wanna listen to "21 Guns" to start this chapter…**

* * *

_Do you know what's worth fighting for when it's not worth dying for?_

_ Does it take your breath away and you feel yourself suffocating?_

_ Does the pain weigh out the pride and you look for a place to hide?_

_ Did someone break your heart inside? You're in ruins…_

-"21 Guns". Green Day, _21__st__ Century Breakdown_.

* * *

Throbbing pain.

That was the first thing that registered in Kazumi's mind as she came to. The last thing she remembered was Bakugo reaching for her hand and just grazing her fingers as she was pulled away from him. Reaching for the back of her head, she felt something dried and crusted beneath her water-hair.

_Blood._

It had been bandaged, sure, but the dried blood was still there.

_Toga. Twice. The fire… Kacchan! Where is he?_

She was in some kind of underground cell, she realized, as the events that had transpired came rushing back into her head. She'd been kidnapped—again—and this time she was alone. Bakugo wasn't there to help her this time.

"Ooh, the water kitten is awake!"

Kazumi looked up to see Toga on the other side of the window that allowed them to see into her cell.

"You were so pretty with your bleeding head! It's too bad we had to bandage it."

"Why did you take me?"

"Simple. I _really_ like the whole blood aspect of your Quirk! And you're my boyfriend's sister, which means that we're best friends by default!"

_I can think of several words to describe that scenario…_

_ Namely, delusional and psychotic._

"Well, actually, Shigaraki asked us to bring you in. Isn't that great? You're gonna be the newest member of the League."

"Didn't you guys try this already? And didn't I quite explicitly turn down that offer?"

"Yeah but this time, we have a plan to _make you_ join us."

Kazumi narrowed her eyes, backing away so that her shoulders were against the wall. She felt safer, but not by much as Toga grinned.

"I got some of your blood yesterday. It tastes so sweet—type O, right? I didn't swallow much—just enough to get a taste."

"So your powers work like Stain's?"

"Oh, I forgot you went against Stainy! So yes, my Quirk does work like that with the exception of it just depends on how much I swallow."

A shiver went up the water hero's spine.

She still had nightmares about the Stain fight, most of which stemmed from her being paralyzed and stabbed. Watching her brothers and Iida get hurt hadn't helped, either.

"What are your plans for me?"

Instead of answering, Toga stepped aside to reveal Shigaraki without the hands. Kazumi realized she actually preferred the creepy accessories upon seeing the man's face for the first time. His eyes were still wide as he stared at her with interest.

"Kazumi Midoriya-Todoroki. Born to Rei and Enji Todoroki with her twin brother, Shoto. Abandoned at the age of three because her Quirk wasn't what Endeavor wanted. Adopted at the age of four by the Midoriyas, becoming the beloved sister of Izuku Midoriya. And the love of Katsuki Bakugo. How do you think your family would react if you joined the League? They'd be _broken_."

_I'm not his actual target. He wants my Quirk, but he wants to break down my loved ones, too._

_ That's why they took me in front of Kacchan—to break him._

_ But it'll take more than that._

"Now, Miss Midoriya, shall we begin our fun?"

His smile did nothing to make her think this was going to be fun.

* * *

"You just rest, Katsuki. Inko sent some soup for you."

"Okay."

Mitsuki bit her lip as her son walked slowly upstairs.

It had been three days since the fire and he'd been oddly quiet during that time. The argumentative, prideful, stubborn boy she'd raised was gone, and in his place was somebody complacent and nonconfrontational. That worried her more than his injuries, which had healed much quicker thanks to Recovery Girl, but he'd refused to be healed all the way. And now the hospital had cleared him to go home to finish out the process before returning to UA.

But he'd told her something the day before.

_"I'm not going back to UA. I can't be a hero if I couldn't even save the person I care about most."_

Kazumi's absence was hitting hard. Especially since the news had leaked that she was a lost daughter of the Todoroki family—news that Endeavor had confirmed as true and stated that he was going to do everything in his power to bring her back to safety. In fact, that had been what took over every news outlet in Japan.

_Lost Todoroki kidnapped by League._

Inko, despite her daughter being missing, was putting her emotions aside to be strong for her remaining child. Izuku remained at UA but he didn't talk to anyone but his girlfriend, daughter, and his sister's twin. UA itself had been put on lockdown over the past couple days, so Katsuki's classmates had been unable to visit after that had been put into place.

Still, her son was hurting emotionally.

Bakugo stared at the picture of Kazumi Kirishima had given him months earlier. Her smile was bright and happy, making his heart clench all the more for her presence. In the corner of his room sat his grenade gauntlets, covered by a sheet that he'd thrown over them as soon as he'd gotten home. He didn't want to look at them, not when they'd been so useless in saving the girl he loved.

_Love._

That was the truth about his feelings for Kazumi. He was truly and deeply in love with her. And he'd failed her when it mattered most. He had no right to be a hero when that had happened.

_Everyone says I have an amazing Quirk. But it was useless in that situation._

_ Deku would've been able to save her._

_ Icy-Hot would've been able to save her._

_ Hell, even Round-Face would've been able to do it._

_ But I couldn't. Because I'm useless without my Quirk._

He rolled over and covered his head with his blanket.

Why? Why hadn't he been fast enough to grab her? Why hadn't he noticed the smell of gasoline beforehand? Why had he let them split up and given the villains the opportunity to take her away?

_Blood. Blood dripping through her hair, off the strands and onto the pavement. Normally bright ice-blue eyes dull and half-lidded. And a blonde villain with a knife, gripping Kazumi's hair as she slammed her head into the pavement._

Eventually, he fell asleep clutching the picture that had become a precious item.

* * *

_Dust swirled with the smoke around him. He was in Camino Ward, surrounded by the League and he could hear All-Might fighting All For One in the background. But he could also feel Kazumi's back pressed against his._

_**This is… this is the first time she was kidnapped.**_

_"Watch my back and I'll watch yours, Kacchan," she told him._

_ "Kazumi, I'm glad you're here."_

_ "What's with you calling me 'Kazumi' all of a sudden?"_

_ "Because you're not just my rival anymore. I really care about you, you know."_

_ "Yeah, I know." Her voice became distorted and he turned to see her bleeding from the forehead._

_ "Kazumi?!"_

_ "Even… though… you're an asshole… I love you…"_

_ She fell forward, him moving to catch her before she hit the ground._

_ "Hey, no! I can't lose you!"_

_ "Go. I'll be fine."_

_ Fire began to consume her as she turned to steam in his arms, the hot vapor scalding him. He let out a pain-filled scream. And then the villains descended._

_ "Why not join us, Bakugo?"_

_ Shigaraki's voice echoed._

_ "You let our sister die."_

_ Deku and Icy-Hot stood in front of him._

_ "Young Bakugo, you will never be a hero."_

_ All-Might's tone was full of disapproval._

_ "No! I tried!" he pleaded. "I couldn't… I couldn't save her!"_

_ "Please, after the way you broke her heart?"_

_ Now Pinky was there._

_ "You didn't actually try."_

_ "No…"_

_ "VILLAIN."_

_ "MURDERER."_

_ "UNWORTHY."_

_ "BASTARD."_

_ The words swirled around him, the faces of his tormentors all morphing into one until it became four-year-old Kazumi protecting Deku the day they met._

_ "I hate bullies!"_

_ "Kazumi, please!" he begged._

_ "I hate you!"_

_ "Please, I tried to save you!"_

_ She grew into the teenager he knew her as now._

_ "If you really tried… I'd still be here. You're useless without your Quirk. It's all flash and no substance. You can't be a hero if you can't even save the girl you __**supposedly**__ love. All you did was abandon me again. Just like my father did."_

_**"I'm not him!"**_

_ "Liar."_

Bakugo awoke with a gasp, shaking violently.

His room was completely dark, save for the sliver of moonlight coming through the window. There was slight pain in his hand as he looked to see he was still holding the picture of Kazumi. A paper-cut sliced through his thumb, but thankfully no blood had gotten onto the picture itself. Her smile was still perfectly preserved.

"Kazumi…" he whispered, still trembling. "I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry…"

Tears streamed down his cheeks and dripped onto the photo.

"Please… I need you. I'm going insane. I need you here."

* * *

Kazumi screamed in pain as another slight shock went through her.

These shocks, on any normal person, would've been just enough to make them jump and feel a little tingly. But thanks to her water-body, they caused her excruciating pain. Shigaraki smirked at her as he had Twice throw the switch again, sending another wave through her body.

"So, it's been four days. Are you ready to try using your Quirk for us yet?" he asked.

"N-never… you're all fucking insane…"

"I guess you need more time." He tilted his head. "After all, you've been abandoned again. Last time we took you, you were only here a day before the heroes found us. Why is it taking longer this time?"

She gasped for breath, panting.

"Perhaps it's because _they don't care._ You're Endeavor's daughter but that doesn't mean anything. Everyone has left you but us."

"Liar…"

"Hm?"

"Y-you're lying. They're just having more trouble… finding… this place…"

"Aw. You think they're coming for you."

"They are."

"Let's see how you feel tomorrow, Kazumi. Toga, your turn."

"NO!" screamed Kazumi as Toga opened the cell and slapped anti-Quirk cuffs on her. She wasn't able to fight back in her weakened state.

"Be good, Zumi-Zumi!" giggled Toga, taking out a needle. "After all, you can't be escaping from here too soon! How else will I get Izuku to come take me on a date?"

She pressed the needle into Kazumi's arm and pressed it, pumping the light tranquilizer drug into Kazumi's veins before pulling out a small knife which she used to make a cut in the other girl's shoulder. Blood seeped from the wound and Toga collected it.

"You… bitch…" sobbed Kazumi.

"You're waiting for your knight in shining grenade gauntlets, aren't you, Zumi-Zumi? But he's not coming. Last I heard, our little fire put him in the hospital for a while. Isn't that great? You'll be my best friend forever!"

The anti-Quirk cuffs went off and a bowl of broth was left in front of Kazumi. With what little strength and consciousness she had left, Kazumi ate the meager offering. She had to stay strong. They'd come for her eventually. Right?

_Maybe Shigaraki's right._

That damn voice was there again.

_Just join him and things will be better._

_ No. They'll come for me. I know they will._

_ You've been abandoned, foolish girl._

_ Izuku would never willingly do that to me._

_ Maybe he would. He has Ochaco and their daughter now. He doesn't need you._

_ Shut up! Shut. Up! I silenced you once and I can do it again! I'm not being abandoned._

She felt the world slipping away around her and gave in to sleep.

_I'm going to be rescued._

* * *

"How's Kacchan doing?"

"He's not doing well, to be honest. Not being able to save Kazumi has been rough on him."

"I bet," sighed Kirishima, rubbing the back of his head. "Add that to his injuries and it's had to have been a massive source of guilt for him."

A week had passed since Kazumi had been taken by the League and the lockdown had been lifted enough so that Izuku, Todoroki, and Kirishima were able to visit Bakugo while he was still healing. Mitsuki had let them in but warned them that her son wasn't in the best state emotionally. Izuku figured he'd gotten violent and angrier while missing Kazumi and lamenting his wounds.

What he didn't expect was seeing one of his oldest friends lying on the bed, listless and depressed, clutching a photo in his hands in the dark. Dark circles were under his eyes as if sleep had eluded him for a while. Not to mention there was a sheet thrown over some objects in the corner; peeking under them revealed the grenade gauntlets from Bakugo's hero costume, still flame-damaged from the night of the fire and clearly not tended to since then.

"Bakugo, dude, you've got to snap out of this," Kirishima sighed. "It's been a week and we need you back at school."

"Yes," agreed Todoroki. "The dormitories have been quiet without you."

"And we're worried," added Izuku, frowning. "It's not like you to be like this."

"Why don't you say what you really think?"

The response came as a low, pain-filled growl.

"What are you talking about?" Bakugo shot up and faced them, placing his feet on the floor.

"You blame me for what happened to Kazumi—you and Icy-Hot. It's my fault your sister got taken by the League. My fault she was hurt and probably badly burned. It's _my fault_."

"Kacchan—"

"Whatever. I'm staying right here."

"You must come back to school eventually," Todoroki pointed out. "Our second year is beginning soon."

"Fuck that."

"Dude, come on!" Kirishima groaned. "Look, she got taken. It sucks. Especially because you love her so much."

"It's not just because I love her. She felt the exact same way. I know she did. And it makes it so much worse. I've done so much _shit_ to her over the years and she still loved me. I fucked it all up. I'm the screw-up who made it impossible for her to do what she wanted to do with her life. How can I be a hero if I couldn't even save the girl I love more than anything?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I'm dropping out of UA."

"No, you can't!"

"Bakugo, please, you don't need to take such a rash measure. As heroes, it's impossible for us to save everyone."

"But I could've saved her if I wasn't so useless with my Quirk—"

_SMACK!_

Izuku had slapped Bakugo.

_Izuku_ had slapped _Bakugo_.

"Deku?!" gasped Bakugo.

"I keep trying to think of Kazumi in this situation: what she'd do, what she'd say, how she'd react…" His voice was quiet. "Slapping you is exactly what she would've done, along with screaming at you for even thinking of giving up being a hero. No, she's not here. And it's not your fault that what happened happened. But you can't just give up because of her. She wouldn't want that. She'd want you to keep moving, to save people so they don't end up like her. And even though she's not with us right now, she's still alive. She's still out there. And we're going to find her. But we need your help and moping in the dark isn't going to find her or let you get the closure you need. So are you going to give up or are you going to be the hero that Kazumi would want you to be?"

Bakugo was stunned.

"Izuku's right," Kirishima spoke up. "You need to move forward. Even All-Might couldn't save every person when he was still active. Part of being a hero is understanding that."

The explosive blonde trembled as he looked down at the picture in his hands. It was one of Kazumi that Izuku recognized as having been a candid from their first night in the dorms. The photo was slightly crumpled around the edges, as if Bakugo had been holding it tightly for the past week.

"She's definitely not dead," Todoroki sighed. "I can feel it."

"Is that some twin thing?" Izuku asked.

"It is. Think of it as like an invisible string between myself and Kazumi. I can't exactly tell where she is, only that she's alive. And that she's in pain."

"If the League has her, they want her Quirk—the blood-controlling part of it. With All For One in prison, they have no way to take it by force. So they're probably trying to turn her to their side."

"In other words, the longer she's with the League, the less likely it is that we'll be able to get her back," Kirishima clarified. "We've gotta tell the teachers. You coming back, Bakugo?"

"I… I need to think. Go on ahead. I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

"Okay. But we really do miss ya at the dorms. Hope you sort through all this."

"I will see you tomorrow," Todoroki stated, turning to leave with Kirishima.

Izuku lingered behind.

"Kacchan, I'm sorry for slapping you. But your Quirk isn't useless. Just because you couldn't use it in that one situation doesn't mean you're useless. Think of ways to fight without it. And that'll help you when things go like they did again."

"You knew about the note, didn't you."

"The one on the back of the picture? Yeah, I did."

"Is that why you gave me the albums?"

"Yeah. I… in case we're too late to find her, I wanted you to know how she felt. Even if the past couple months have been rough. You both deserve that much." He sighed. "Well, hope I see you tomorrow."

He started to follow Kirishima and Todoroki.

"Hey, Deku."

Izuku turned.

"Thank you."

There was gratitude in Bakugo's voice, and that made Izuku smile.

"You're welcome."

* * *

_Stay strong, Kazumi. They'll find you._

_ Last time, they had the trackers and police information to go off of. This time, they don't have anything. All they know is that I've been kidnapped by three known members of the League._

_ If I stay strong, they can't break me._

_ I have to be a hero. I can't back down._

_ But I can't take much more of the torture. I can't. My body will give out._

_ Maybe… maybe if I play along… and wait until the time is right…_

_ Yeah. That's what I need to do._

_ Play along. And they'll stop hurting me. But they won't break me._

_ It's just like playing pretend with Green Brother and Kacchan when we were kids._

_ God, I hope they find me soon._

"So, have you made a decision yet?" Shigaraki asked.

"I have." She smirked at him. "I'll join your little group."

"Excellent. And if you ever betray us…" His eyes widened. "I'll kill you, slowly and painfully."

"I would expect nothing less."

"Well, then, welcome to the League, Kazumi Midoriya."

"For now, just call me the Puppetmaster."

_I hate this._

"If that's the case, then we welcome the Puppetmaster to the League."

He laughed maniacally and she felt herself dying a little inside.

* * *

_ "VILLAIN."_

_ "MURDERER."_

_ "UNWORTHY."_

_ "BASTARD."_

_ Once again, the insults and torment swirled around him, screaming out his failures for all the world to hear. He dropped to his knees, covering his ears to block out the sound… but there was Kazumi again, bleeding and calling him a liar._

_ It was too much. Too much for him to handle._

_**I can't be a hero.**_

_"Stop it, you sons of bitches!"_

_ A very familiar voice broke through those of his tormentors. He looked up just in time to see Kazumi get punched through the chest… by Kazumi? The one who was bleeding fell forward, fading until she was nothing but a faint shadow. The one that remained held out a hand to him._

_ "You okay, Kacchan?"_

_ "Kazumi… you don't blame me?"_

_ "Of course not. It's part of the hazards of being a hero. We get targeted. Bad things happen and we can't stop them, but we have to move forward. If we lose people we care about, then we remember the good times instead of failures."_

_ Camino Ward began to ripple and dissolve, instead turning into the playground where they'd met as kids. A small girl with water-hair in pigtails put a flower-crown on a boy with fluffy green hair, making him smile as she took out a small camera._

_ "There, pretty," she told him._

_ "You did a great job, Kazumi."_

_ "Thanks!"_

_ "Hey, Water Witch!" called a small boy with blonde hair._

_ "What do you want, Kacchan?"_

_ "How come you always make girly stuff for Deku like that?"_

_ "Because none of the other girls wanna hang out with me. And Zuku doesn't mind!"_

_ "I don't," agreed Izuku, smiling._

_ "Yeah, well, no boys are gonna like you but him!"_

_ "Boys are gross. Izuku doesn't count because he's my brother and my best friend."_

_ "Girls are gross!"_

_ "Nuh-uh!"_

_ "Yeah they are!"_

_ "How about you two just kiss and get it over with?" sighed a teenager with glasses, passing by. "That's where this kind of story usually goes."_

_ "GROSS!" both kids yelled._

_ "Grown-ups do it all the time," Izuku pointed out. "So it can't be that gross."_

_ "I'll show you!" snapped the younger Bakugo. "C'mon, Water Witch! Bet you're scared!"_

_ "No, I'm not! I can do it!"_

_ They pecked each other on the lips briefly, Izuku managing to capture the moment with the small camera. Then the scene faded and he could see other memories of himself and Kazumi and Izuku—playing Heroes VS Villains, falling asleep side-by-side at naptime during preschool, that time he snuck a horror movie over to the Midoriyas during a sleepover… all of it showing the good times he'd had with Kazumi._

_ Then came the more recent memories._

_ Watching her fight at the Sports Festival. Their brief partnership in Camino Ward. Saving Eri. The Fall Festival. And the dance._

_ "You need to remember me like this," the Kazumi in front of him said. "Not as the bleeding girl you couldn't save, but as the person you fell in love with. Somebody who would want you to move forward. Because that's what love is—being able to remember someone long after they're gone and cherishing what time you did have."_

_ "Kazumi…"_

_ "I love you, Kacchan." She kissed him on the cheek (even in dream form, she was still four inches shorter than him) and backed away. "And you're going to be a hero."_

He woke up, feeling well-rested and like there was something on his cheeks. It was dried tearstains.

_Kazumi thinks I can be a hero?_

_ Well, then…_

Bakugo smirked.

_I'm coming to save you, Water Witch._

* * *

**WHOOP THERE IT IS**

** I told you guys that this was going to be more densely packed with feels. Also, I hope you listened to "21 Guns" by Green Day at least once while reading this chapter. The song is a lot less hopeful than this chapter was in the end, but whatever. It's still where the chapter title came from.**

** Next time, it's off to find our water girl!**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	15. The Final Rescue

**So this chapter is a little late.**

** By like, a few days.**

** But I have an excuse! I was emotionally drained after chapter 14 and I took a day to recuperate! Also, this chapter has proved the hardest to write purely because I wasn't sure how to get the others to Kazumi so that the battle I came up with could play out. In the end, I couldn't get past my writer's block and this is what you got instead.**

** Comments!**

** To emiya-excalibur: Izuku the little shit indeed. Also, yes to more tension!**

** To ElephantBoy00: Thank you. And I like the song selection as well.**

** To The Keeper of Worlds: It's thanks to your suggestion that the scenario played out like it did. Rage will definitely be coming down on Tomura's ass and as for the trinity attack… maybe. I haven't decided yet.**

** And finally, to KahunaLagoona: Thank you. I'm not good at writing details. That's just the way it's always been when it comes to my writing. And as for the short time that we've gone from one chapter to fifteen (less than two weeks), I call that 'burning through the zone'. A lot of this just kind of popped into my head, but I think I have an idea of how to end this. We're in the home stretch now!**

** Onward!**

* * *

Endeavor was aware of his shortcomings as a husband and father.

He'd neglected his three elder children. His wife had suffered at his hand. And his youngest children had arguably had it the worst. Shoto had not been well-suited for his downright abusive training and Kazumi had fallen so short of his expectations that he'd left her on a street corner, never expecting to see her again.

But she'd reappeared, almost thirteen years later, to show him how far she'd come. She was stronger, almost as much as Shoto, and she proved her worth as a Todoroki despite rejecting the name. Endeavor had been fully prepared for her to blast him in the eyes of the public, but she didn't see a point when his abandonment had left her in a better place than she'd been in before.

Despite being number-one as a hero, he was dead last in terms of parenting.

So when his daughter was kidnapped by the League, Endeavor put all other cases on hold to track down the villains who'd taken her right when it seemed like things were going fine. Shoto, Izuku, and that explosive boy (what was his name again?) threw themselves into helping and within two weeks, they had a location.

Tattooin. The very district that she'd grown up in following her adoption into the Midoriya family. As if the League were trying to taunt her family and friends for how close yet unreachable she was.

It didn't matter.

Once they had the location, a task force was sent in that included her brothers, that blonde boy, the gravity girl, and several pro heroes. Endeavor went on the task force himself, as well.

This was his chance to try and right the wrong he'd dealt his second-most-powerful child.

And he wasn't going to waste it.

* * *

"They're here!"

Toga squealed and clapped her hands before hugging Kazumi.

"The pros are here to get you, Zumi-Zumi! Aren't you excited?"

"Who's leading the task force?" inquired a voice from the shadows.

"Oh, that fire hero, Endeavor. Zumi-Zumi's daddy."

"Why would he try to save me after what he did?" Kazumi's voice was flat and broken.

"Probably trying to save his image," snorted Twice.

"I also saw Izuku and your knight in shining grenade gauntlets~!" sang Toga.

"Prepare yourselves," instructed Shigaraki. "We have to separate them if we're going to have any hope of victory."

_This is my chance to escape. I have to take it._

"Puppeteer, you'll be with me. I don't trust you quite yet."

_Dammit._

"Void Termina, you and Toga take on the younger ones. The rest of us are on the pros…"

"Yes, master…"

The cloak-clad man walked towards where the pros and students had entered the facility, his face covered by an eerie mask as he appeared to relish in the task given to him.

Bakugo clenched his fists as he, Todoroki, Deku, and Ochaco walked through the seemingly-abandoned facility. The pros had sent them to be the rescue force while they dealt with the villains who were busily pursuing those who were officially licensed.

"She's close," Todoroki stated. "I can feel it."

"Are you sure?" Ochaco asked.

"It's like that string between us is tightening the closer we get to her. I'm sure that we'll find her soon."

Suddenly, the hall around them seemed to dissolve as they found themselves in a nightmarish recreation of Camino Ward after All For One destroyed it.

_"Unworthy heroes…"_

Shadows crept forward, each of them transforming into someone they knew. The first was Kazumi, followed closely by each of their classmates, All-Might, and even Eri. They were decrepit representations but very well-made fakes. The Shadow Kazumi was bleeding from her head, looking very much like she had the night the League had taken her. Deku and the other two looked alarmed and frightened by this, but Bakugo wasn't bothered as he sparked up his hands and approached.

He'd dealt with this nightmare before.

"They're not real!" he yelled to the others. "Just take them out! This is a Quirk!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Shadow Kazumi leapt onto him, knocking him back and punching him in the face. He put his hands on her midsection and blasted it to pieces, sending her reeling and screaming in pain.

_"YoU bAsTaRd…" _she rasped, her voice distorted as her eyes turned a hellish black. The same happened to the other fakes as they descended.

That gave the other three the incentive to attack.

The shadows were linked to some kind of hivemind, acting as one entity as they fought through the students and tried to win. But that was their undoing; one mind meant they only acted as one force, no matter how many of them there were.

Until Toga showed up and tackled Deku to the ground.

"YAY!" she cheered, smiling in an insane fashion. "You're here! You're here you're here you're here!"

"Deku—!" yelped Ochaco as she was tackled by a fake Eri.

"I knew you'd be coming to save Zumi-Zumi! But she's my best friend now and she's gonna help me get lots of blood!"

"Where is she?!" gasped out Deku.

"Aw, you don't wanna spend time with me?"

An explosion happened near her, startling her enough that she fell off of Deku.

"Crazy bitch!" spat Bakugo, his eyes narrowed. "Where's Kazumi?!"

"Ooh, right, you're her knight in shining grenade gauntlets! She's with Shigaraki because he thinks she's too important to let her fight you guys!"

Bakugo tried to punch her in the face, missing as she danced around him.

But the explosion hit somebody else and they were back in the hallway of the facility. A man in a cloak was lying on the floor, breathing heavily and looking scorched.

"Void Termina! Useless bastard!" whined Toga.

She'd been distracted long enough for Ochaco to take her down and pin her.

"Ochaco, no! I love you, too!"

Ochaco chopped the back of Toga's neck, effectively rendering her unconscious as she tied up Toga and Void Termina in the man's cloak before they continued down the hall.

Eventually, they found Shigaraki waiting with Kurogiri… and a girl who could only be Kazumi. Her hero costume had been replaced with a blue top that had corset lacing and a pair of simple blue jeans. Bakugo felt relief at seeing her… not so much when he saw the bruising and cuts and scorch marks up and down her arms, but she was alive, at least.

"I should've guessed that Void Termina and Toga wouldn't be enough to stop you," sneered Shigaraki. "But my newest recruit should be. Isn't that right, Puppeteer?"

"Right," Kazumi replied, her voice flat and broken.

_No…_

Bakugo sparked up his hands and suddenly, he felt pain flash up his arm. Kazumi had her hand out and she moved it, forcing him to fall to the ground and then slide into the wall behind him.

_Holy shit, is this what she was doing with Aizawa?!_

He was quickly joined by Todoroki and Ochaco, while Deku stood alone against his sister and his greatest enemy.

"See, Izuku Midoriya?" chuckled the blue-haired man.

The doors were shut but they could hear pros trying to get in.

"Your precious sister has been turned to my side. And nothing will get her to go back to y—"

Shigaraki froze, cutting off his own words as he was forced to extend his arms.

Bakugo smirked as he realized who was doing it.

"PUPPETEER! How dare you!"

"How dare _you_ assume that I would break?" And the sass that Bakugo loved was back. "How dare _you_ kidnap me? How dare _you_ force me to hurt my brothers and my best friend? See, Shigaraki, I'm in the _right_ here. You don't have a leg to stand on."

His legs were forced out from under him.

Kazumi used her left hand to grab a pair of cuffs off Shigaraki's belt and toss them to Izuku.

"Cuff him."

"YOU BITCH!"

Just as Izuku got the cuffs onto Shigaraki, another villain—much like Toga, wielding a knife—came down from the rafters and drove the knife into Kazumi's side. Right where her scar from the Hosu Incident was located. She screamed in pain and Bakugo moved of his own according, blasting the guy in the face while pros managed to bust in and take Shigaraki into custody.

An ambulance arrived to take Kazumi to the hospital.

It was over.

* * *

Kazumi opened her eyes to blinding white above her.

_Where am I…?_

There was the rhythmic beeping of an EKG in her ear and a clip on her finger. And she realized she was in the hospital.

_Right. I spent a week and a half getting tortured and then I was stabbed._

_ Just another day in the life of Kazumi Midoriya._

She glanced to her left and saw the door, but on the nightstand beside her was a pot of marigolds. Just like the ones she used to give Bakugo when they were kids. A turn to the right revealed her adoptive mother, both her brothers who went to UA with her, her best friend, and… Bakugo. All five of them were asleep, with Izuku and Ochaco resting their heads on each other's shoulders and Bakugo looking actually peaceful for once. Todoroki's hair was messed up and Inko was clutching Kazumi's jacket. It was all so cute.

Then the pain in her side decided to make itself known and she yelped.

All five of her visitors woke up at once.

"Kazumi, sweetheart, are you okay?!" Inko asked, reaching her first.

"I'm fine, Mom. Just… yay, pain. I love it."

"Don't be sarcastic! You were stabbed, dear!"

"I _know_. Me and the splitting pain in my side know."

"I'll go get you something to eat and the doctor, too." Inko left her daughter's side.

The pain wasn't just from being stabbed, Kazumi knew. Some of it felt like burns.

"Okay, who let Shoto burn my stab wound shut again?" she joked.

"It was my idea," Todoroki insisted. "I didn't want you to bleed out before we got you to a hospital."

"I'm just kidding. Jeez, lighten up."

"How can you joke about this?" Izuku asked.

"Aren't you the All-Might number-one fanboy? When times are tough, you need to smile so other people can, too. Besides, laughter's the best medicine." She glanced at Ochaco. "How's Eri?"

"She came by earlier, when they brought you out of surgery. She was telling me that you're the coolest aunt ever."

"Yeah. I feel really cool."

Bakugo cleared his throat and Izuku nodded.

"Well, we'd better get some food. Mom's going to be back with the doctor, anyway. Bye!"

He pushed Ochaco and Todoroki out of the room and left his sister with Bakugo.

"So, was that a clever ploy to be alone with me?"

"I saw the note." She stared at him.

_The note. That damned note—why didn't I tear that picture up?!_

"Let me guess—it was one of the funniest things you ever read in your life and you wanted to let me know as much."

"No." He took her hand in his. "Kazumi, I've… I haven't been honest with you. Not since I dumped you as a rival. I did it because I felt like I couldn't be that rival you needed anymore. I was… I was selfish. I should've given you an actual reason instead of just brushing you off. We lost a lot of time because of that. And then with the dance… I screwed up again. I should've just brushed that girl off and gone to you."

"You're stalling."

"I'm not! Shut up, I'm trying to make this heartfelt."

"I think we both know you can't go that deep right now."

"Okay, that's fair. So how's this: I feel the same way you do." She blinked.

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah. I've known for a while, I think, but I've been so stupid that I haven't considered that you might possibly feel the same way. I love you, Kazumi, and that's the simple truth of it."

He went silent for a moment, letting the words hang between them.

_Sniff._

Kazumi had tears running down her face.

"Dammit, are you hurt?!" he asked.

"Shut up, moron. These are happy tears." She wiped her eyes. "Make a girl cry in her hospital bed, why don't you…"

"So… you wanna give us a shot?"

"I mean… I'm up for it if you are."

"But we're not going the Deku route of being sickly-cute in public—"

"Oh, God, no! Neither of us is as awkward as that or as comfortable with displaying emotions."

"Heh." He smirked again. "Now, about that other part of the note…"

"Kacchan, I _will_ drown you!"

"You said you wanted what happened when we were little kids to happen again."

"Oh, that part…" She blushed. "I'm up for it if you are."

"Hell yes." He leaned towards her and suddenly the door opened to reveal Inko and the doctor.

"I apologize, but I must ask you to leave," the doctor told Bakugo. "I need to examine Miss Midoriya and ensure her wounds are healing properly."

"Yeah, sure." Bakugo stood up and walked towards the door. "See ya, Kazumi."

"See you."

* * *

By the time their second year started, Kazumi had been cleared to return to her training and studies at UA. That was also around the time that she moved back into the dorms, where her classmates threw her and Todoroki a 'welcome home/happy belated birthday' party—since their actual birthday celebration had been derailed by what had happened in January. It was actually one of the bigger celebrations that Kazumi had been to, and the first time she'd received gifts from people outside of her immediate circle of friends and family.

Even so, as the party wound down, she found herself alone with Bakugo.

"You know, I'm glad Izuku found that note," she commented as she thumbed through the photo album. "Without it, we might've taken a lot longer to tell each other how we felt directly."

"Yeah, I guess."

"I just wish I knew where my second album came from."

"I know."

"Really? Where?"

"I, uh, noticed the one you had was pretty full, so I got it for you. Just as a random act of kindness. That's pretty heroic, right?"

"…aw, Kacchan!" She hugged him and planted a kiss on his lips—their first as teenagers making decisions rather than children imitating adults.

"Don't tell anybody, okay? I've got a reputation to uphold."

"Same here. But… thank you, Kacchan. I owe you a lot."

"I couldn't save you from the League—"

"But you _tried_, even after I was treating you so coldly for so long. That means a lot, Kacchan. And I'm grateful."

So, after twelve years of opposition, rivalry, arguments, and anger… Bakugo and Kazumi were finally on the same page and together.

* * *

**Okay, so today's chapter is short. Like, really short.**

** I can't begin to apologize for the wait for something so short compared to what you're used to. But I wanted to move forward. I have a plan for an epilogue that's going to be longer and I want to get to it because I have another project I'm moving on to. This one will have Bakuzumi in the background as opposed to a major focus, but it's also a fantasy AU involving my other MHA OC, Miharu. I hope you all keep an eye out for the epilogue.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	16. Epilogue: Family

**Comments!**

** To The Keeper of Worlds: Thank you. I'm glad you approve.**

** And to emiya-excalibur: Yes. Soft Bakugo is such a tsundere. But he loves his Water Witch.**

** And so, for the final time in this saga… let's go!**

* * *

_Seven years later…_

"All right. Welcome to your first day of rescue training."

Aizawa was addressing the newest students of class 1-A. This time around, he had Eri and Kota in the ranks, both of whom he knew well and he was also aware of just how much they wanted to follow in the footsteps of Izuku. Especially Eri, who'd carried her father's name with her for nearly eight years now. But those two also knew him well and knew that he hated having to deal with new students solely because they always had a certain cockiness.

"Rescue training's dumb," Eri heard a boy mutter behind her. His name was Daisuke, and from what she could tell he was a lot like her uncle Kacchan had been before Aunt Kazumi had mellowed him out. But Daisuke also lacked that underlying gruff but kind attitude.

"How is rescue training dumb?" asked Homura, a girl Eri didn't know too well.

"Well, _I'm_ gonna be like Ground Zero," Daisuke declared, crossing his arms. "A tough guy who beats down villains and doesn't answer to anybody. Not a wimpy rescue hero like Tsunami."

_Oh, he answers to __**somebody**__. He doesn't make a move without talking to Aunt Kazumi first because she'll kick his ass._

"I like Tsunami," mumbled Amaya, a shy girl who Eri had known since middle school.

"You _would_, you wimp. Her powers are totally lame."

They turned their eyes to Aizawa, who was about to explain who they'd be working with when his arms suddenly stiffened. It was as if he'd lost control of his own body. Like a Quirk was controlling him. Every student began to freak out except Eri and Kota, who'd seen it before when 'Ground Zero' started to go off-the-rails on missions.

"Very funny, Miss Midoriya," sighed Aizawa.

"What? Gotta show some of the more interesting aspects of my Quirk."

"Would you mind releasing me?"

"Killjoy."

Aizawa's arms dropped back to his sides and a woman rose from a puddle that was next to him—Kazumi Midoriya, better known to the world as the pro hero Tsunami. Oohs and ahs echoed behind Eri at seeing the woman who was easily ranked as one of the top rescue heroes in Japan. Eri was just glad to see her aunt was still the same fun-loving hero she'd always been after a couple months abroad on a rescue mission following a disastrous hurricane in America.

"I assume you all know Tsunami. She was in the same class as all of you when she went to school here and she'll be helping with rescue training today. Since she just came back from abroad, I asked her to wait, but she insisted on helping out."

"It's always nice to see where the future is going to go," she stated. "Even though I haven't been a pro for very long, I want to see how you all will deal with the kinds of things I deal with on an almost-daily basis."

"Would you care to explain what you're doing?"

"Right. Well, despite my initial rescue training not going too well my first year, I was able to grasp the importance of being able to deal with a variety of emergency situations. For instance…" Her eyes traveled over the crowd and landed on Daisuke. "You, young man. You want to be a combat-oriented hero, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, crossing his arms. "Like Ground Zero."

"Mm. That makes sense. But just because you're combat-oriented doesn't mean you can completely ignore rescue work. After all, helping people is what heroes do. Just like being rescue-oriented doesn't mean that I'm useless in combat. I was actually combat-oriented when I started at UA myself and didn't find my niche until my second semester. Now, we have six different zones for you to contend with, along with some villains."

The students gasped.

"But that's super-dangerous!" called Homura.

"Don't worry. They're not _real_ villains. They're some pros we got to volunteer for the day. After all, when disasters strike, we tend to see a spike in crime rates simply because of all the chaos. These guys will take it easy since it's your first day, but don't expect them to just let you win."

Footsteps echoed behind class 1-A and they all turned to see some of the top-ranked heroes in Japan standing there. All of them were UA alumni, and all of them looked ready to go. Eri even spotted her mother and father among their ranks. Tadashi (who Eri had realized was the mega-fanboy in their class, just like her father had been) started talking to himself and marking off names in his notebook.

"_Deku… Uravity… Froppy… Ingenium… Ground Zero… Chargebolt… Red Riot… Creati… Pinky…"_

He was shaking so badly that Homura had to steady him with her hands.

"You brats ready?" asked Bakugo, cracking his knuckles.

"Kacchan, the rule is 'take it easy since it's day one'," Kazumi said in a warning tone.

"Fine. Whatever you say…"

"You all have your assignments. I'll split the kids into groups and send them your way."

Eri's eyes gleamed as the pros went by. All of them she had known as family since she was rescued from Overhaul as a six-year-old child. And they'd been training her since then in combat and with her Quirk. Some of her fondest memories were of learning how to swim from Tsuyu and Kazumi, or how to throw a proper punch from Kirishima and her father. Even Bakugo's lessons in self-defense with small weapons such as knives (which had gotten him in hot water with both her mother and his girlfriend—literally, in the case of the latter) had warm feelings attached to them.

And now she was supposed to apply all those skills she'd been taught over the years?

Yes, _please_.

Time to show her family just how far she'd come.

* * *

For the past five years, Izuku had served as a pro hero in Japan.

In that time, he'd rapidly become a popular and beloved figure in the eyes of the public. When not performing his duties as the 'Symbol of Hope' (as he'd been christened by the enthusiastic people), he spent his time with his now-wife, Ochaco, and his teenage daughter, Eri. Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows because nothing ever is, but the idea of a peaceful life untouched by the scandals that seemed to plague other pros sat well with him.

And he didn't have any scandals.

Unfortunately, Kazumi did.

Not long after their stint at the USJ, she revealed to him, Ochaco, and Todoroki—in the _strictest_ confidence—that she was pregnant. She hadn't even told Bakugo because she was worried about how he'd react. Her childhood issues of abandonment (FUCKING THANKS FOR MAKING HER AN EMOTIONAL WRECK, ENDEAVOR) reared their ugly head and she went to them first so she could tell _somebody_ and figure out a plan to let her longtime boyfriend know that she had a bun in the oven.

That plan had been wrecked when a gossip article—from an online source completely devoted to Kazumi and Bakugo's relationship—had stated, in bold letters in the headline:

_**TSUNAMI EXPECTING WATER BOMB BABY!**_

Panic had set in and she'd quickly left her apartment to hide at Izuku's in embarrassment. She would've gone to Todoroki's, but there was the problem of him being overseas on a mission in Russia in an area where she had no way to contact him. Hence why she was currently crying in her brother's guest room.

"I know this is bad," Izuku sighed to his sister.

"Izuku, 'bad' is an understatement. 'Bad' would be if they caught one of us in the other's apartment and the public didn't know we were dating. This is horrible."

"You were planning to tell him, weren't you?"

"Yeah, in my own time! There's no _way_ this won't pop up on his radar and then he'll get pissed because I didn't tell him and it'll spiral into an argument and then the next thing you know I'm a single mother who's struggling to balance hero work and raising a child with their father's temperament." She flopped over, burying her face in the pillow. "Can I go to sleep until this is over?"

Izuku was about to answer when her phone went off. The caller ID read 'Kacchan'. She let out a yelp and threw her phone across the room, Izuku managing to catch it before it hit the floor and broke.

"Kazumi, you can't just avoid him forever."

"Watch me!" She hid under the blankets.

The phone started going off again and she snatched it from Izuku, hiding it under the pillow to muffle the sound. Obviously, she was not in a rational position at the moment.

"Well, I'm going to let Ochaco know you're staying here for a few days. Try not to do anything too rash, okay?"

"Okay…"

He headed downstairs to the living room, where Ochaco was reading some of the files for a case she was working on. She looked up as he entered the room.

"How's she doing?"

"She's in a 'worst-case scenario' stage right now." Ochaco winced in sympathy. "To make things worse, Kacchan started calling her and she tried to throw her phone into the wall. I barely saved it, but now he's calling her repeatedly and I think he's heard about the article."

"There's no way he hasn't. I just got a text from Mina about it, asking me if it was true that a 'Water Bomb baby' is on the way."

"What'd you tell her?"

"That I had no idea. I really hope Kazumi works this out with Bakugo…"

As if to punctuate that statement, Izuku's phone started going off. His caller ID also said 'Kacchan' and he felt himself going pale. More than likely Bakugo was trying to locate his girlfriend and pissed that she wasn't picking up. Izuku shakily pressed the 'accept call' button and held the phone a few inches away from his ear.

_"Deku! Where's Kazumi?! She's not picking up her damn phone and with that stupid fucking article out about how I knocked her up—"_

"Kacchan, she's fine, I promise."

_"Then why the hell isn't she picking up?!"_

"I have no idea, honestly. But she's over here at my place—"

_"I figured. Normally she'd go to Icy-Hot but he's freezing his ass off in Russia or some shit. I'm coming over."_

"That's not a good idea. She's not in a good place right now and she needs a couple days to figure something out."

_"Fuck, she's not dumping me, is she?!"_

"No. Actually, she's more worried about _you_ dumping _her_."

Bakugo was silent for a moment.

_"Is it true then? Is she…?"_

"Yeah. She is."

_"How the fuck do you know?"_

"That's a question you need to ask her. And you need to let her cool down first. She's really stressed out because of the article since, you know, it's _true_, and I think she's really worried you're mad because she hasn't told you yet."

_"God… Endeavor really fucked her up, didn't he? I swear I'm punching that bastard next time I see him."_

"Get in line."

_"Ha! You'd kill him."_

"No, I mean behind Rei and Shoto. They have first dibs."

_"That's fair."_ Bakugo sighed. _"Look, just tell her to call me when she's ready. I'm really freaked about this now and her not picking up just kinda made it worse."_

"Well, like I said, give her a day or two. I think hormones are making this much more stressful than it needs to be."

_"Thanks. Remind me to be this supportive when you and Round-Face start having kids other than Pipsqueak."_

"I'll see you later, I guess."

_"See ya."_

The next day, Kazumi had the day off and she found herself moping in Izuku and Ochaco's living room. Not only that, but her curiosity was piqued and she started reading the comments on the article, just to gauge how people felt about the news. And she wasn't too happy with the results.

_LOL joke, right?_

_ I bet this baby's going to have the WORST childhood with Ground Zero for a dad._

_ Any daughter of theirs is going to be emotional and have serious shotgun dad issues._

_ Tsunami can barely handle disasters. How's she gonna handle a kid?_

_ I don't think there's even a baby._

_ Just rumor trash._

It appeared that people either flat-out didn't believe she was pregnant or thought that she and Bakugo would be terrible parents. A few (and she felt like she knew who, based on the handle of AM_Fan_715) were defending them, saying they'd be a great mom and dad to any kid they had.

But it did nothing to soothe her mind.

Suddenly, there was a knocking at the front door and she peeked through the peephole… only to see her boyfriend on the other side of the door with his hands behind his back. She yelped and ducked, forgetting that he couldn't see her.

"Kazumi, I know you're there," she heard him say through the wood.

"I'm not ready to talk!"

"Well, too bad, because I'm not putting this off! Just open the door and let me in."

She mumbled under her breath and opened the door to let him in. In his hand, he had a small bouquet of daisies—her personal favorite flower—which he gave her along with a hug.

"You really fucking scared me. This drops and you just go off the grid? Not okay."

"I know… I was… fucking hormones, why?!"

"Okay, I know why. You thought I would run, didn't you?" She shuffled her feet and stared at the flowers in her hand. "I get why you thought that, but you also know I wouldn't do that to you. Leaving you to parent a mini-me is never something I would do. Mostly because you'd need me to be the strict parent."

She snorted and he smiled a bit.

"C'mon, we're a team. We'll do this together like we do everything else."

"Okay." She took a deep breath. "But I don't wanna marry you yet."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Most of the time in this situation the guy marries the girl so the baby has a nuclear family, but I don't want you to marry me just because we're having a kid."

"Eh. Sounds too by-the-book for me." He pulled her into another hug. "But I do think we should move in together. Do a whole… thing like Deku and Round-Face."

"You mean a _house_ instead of separate apartments?"

"If you're up for it."

"I guess I am… but you know I have to make a statement since I'm actually pregnant."

"Yeah, side-note: why the _fuck_ did you tell Deku before you told me?"

"I wasn't sure how you'd take the news and I needed to tell somebody, so I told the two brothers I'm closest to and Ochaco."

"Oh shit."

"What?"

"I just realized that I'm the father of Endeavor's grandkid. Jesus. And I'm still gonna punch him in the face next time I see him."

"Kacchan, no."

"Kacchan, yes."

* * *

The news that they were expecting was a big surprise for their respective families who hadn't already known. Inko had started sobbing tears of joy as she hugged her daughter, as did Rei. Mitsuki pulled her son aside and privately asked him about whether or not he intended to marry the girl, to which he replied 'it's up to her when that happens'. Endeavor, in response to having a grandchild, simply huffed when he heard that his daughter and her boyfriend were still unmarried—even making an offhanded comment about how unmarried couples tended to fail as parents.

To which his youngest daughter replied, "Endeavor, _**you**_ failed as a parent and you were married. I don't see how Kacchan and I could do worse."

And Bakugo replied… by punching him in the face.

(Hey, don't talk shit and expect not to get hit.)

The public, on the other hand, had mixed reactions. While most pros and certainly a majority of the civilians congratulated the couple, many more people questioned how young the two were and their abilities as parents. They were, of course, defended by the very blog that had started the whole mess when the reporter who'd dropped the news wrote an article about how they were preparing and that Kazumi had helped raise her niece—now a student at UA—which would help her parent her child on the way.

In June, Kazumi met up with the other girls from their class for a night of pure enjoyment and catching up. She didn't drink because _duh_, but she didn't fail to notice Ochaco wasn't drinking either.

"Oh, am I not alone?" she whispered to her best friend.

"No, you're not. Shh! I'm telling the others tonight!"

Kazumi rested a hand on her belly, a swollen bump already starting to form where the baby was growing. Or rather, her babies. Yep, the second plot twist in her being pregnant (her state being the first) was that she was having twins. She'd been told by her birth mother that it was likely, due to Kazumi herself being a twin, but actually _knowing_ was a different animal entirely. She'd also temporarily retired from the front lines, instead working case files at the agency she and Bakugo had founded a year earlier.

"So, what's it like having a parasite inside you?" asked Ashido, looking interested in Kazumi's belly.

"She's pregnant, not carrying a parasite!" Hagakure scolded.

"Actually, considering that they're feeding off me and growing inside, they can technically count as a parasite," Kazumi laughed. "Both of them."

"AAAAAH! TWINS?!" shrieked the Alien Queen.

"It was more likely since I'm a twin myself. You should've seen Kacchan's face when he found out. I could've knocked him over with my weakest attack and he wouldn't have gotten up."

"Sounds just like when I told Deku about our little one," giggled Ochaco.

_3… 2… 1…_

Shrieks broke out and both Kazumi and Jiro covered their ears to protect their eardrums.

* * *

If possible, the news about Deku and Uravity's baby was even bigger than Ground Zero and Tsunami's. Mostly because Dekuravity was the most beloved hero couple in Japan and Zeronami didn't exactly crack that due to the fact that they'd hidden their relationship from the public until after they'd founded their agency together. Neither of them had a problem with it; Bakugo had become sick and tired of the reporters constantly trying to get him to say the baby wasn't his or something like that.

Then came the day that they moved into their first house together. Ochaco came over with Izuku to help but she was told to sit with Kazumi and not strain herself. The two mothers-to-be instead busied themselves with looking through the numerous baby clothes that their respective families had collected… along with any baby pictures of their significant others that the mothers of said men had sent. Kazumi giggled endlessly over Bakugo's before her boyfriend saw them and tried to take them away from her.

When it was all said and done, and their friends and family had left, Kazumi sat on the bench of the bay window in their bedroom looking outside. Her hand rested on her belly, where she could feel her babies kick against her palm. A gentle smile crossed her face as she remembered Bakugo feeling it for the first time.

_"Kacchan! Come here!"_

_ "What?! What's wrong?" He came into the living area of her apartment from the bedroom where he was packing her belongings._

_ "Shh… come here." She took his hand and guided it to her belly, where he gave her a confused look until she felt the babies kick against his palm. His eyes widened and he placed his other hand on there, too._

_ "Whoa… we made that?"_

_ "Strong. Like you."_

_ "Nah. I think we both know you're stronger than me."_

_ "Actually, I think Izuku's stronger than both of us."_

_ "You might be right… but don't tell him I said that."_

_ "Agreed."_

"You okay, Water Witch?" She turned to look at him.

"I'm fine. It's just… if you'd told me, when we were younger, that I'd end up where I am now, I wouldn't have believed it. In fact, I probably would've drowned whoever said it."

"And I would've blown them up. Hell, I got smacked in the face with my own training bag when the hag suggested it."

"I'm telling you right now—do _not_ teach our children to call me a hag."

"Wouldn't dream of it." He held out his hand. "C'mon. I made you dinner."

"Aw… I got the guy who makes me dinner and helps me buy a nice house. Bet every girl in Japan is jealous."

"I'm pretty sure they're more jealous of Round-Face than you."

She pouted but smiled at the same time.

* * *

And a few months later, their twin daughters—Hanako and Chiasa—were born. Eri was the proudest cousin possible and Mitsuki jokingly commented that the girls had inherited more of their mother's looks than their father's… which Bakugo agreed with as he held Chiasa. She had his ash-blonde hair, but he could tell he'd have to beat the guys off with a stick once she and Hanako got older.

Not long after, Ochaco gave birth to her and Izuku's second daughter, who they named Nana after All-Might's deceased master. Kazumi could already tell that Hanako and Nana were going to get along, but Chiasa squirmed whenever she was put near her cousin. Bakugo realized that the two would have a rivalry much like he'd had with the mother of his daughters, but he wasn't too bothered. After all, he'd eventually turned that over to her brother and it was fine for cousins to have a rivalry.

Nine years ago, Izuku had achieved part of his dream—attending UA.

He'd found the love of his life, who he'd married, and his idol had mentored him personally in the ways of being a hero. His sister had found her own happiness and her own path to being a hero that didn't involve him doing anything but providing support. Even the boy who'd once bullied him for being Quirkless had found his own way… even if they were still rivals now.

That younger Izuku, the one who'd been so often bullied and put down in his life, would never have dreamed of the life he had now. Two daughters—separated by fifteen years—and twin nieces who had calmed his rival almost completely. It was the life he wanted, though. A family that he wouldn't trade for anything.

And looking at Kazumi, cuddled up on the guest bed with her boyfriend and her daughters, he knew she was thinking the same thing.

After being abandoned at a young age, tormented for her Quirk that made her different, adopted by a woman who didn't intend to have another child, fighting on a near-daily basis with the boy who would one day father her children, stabbed, kidnapped (twice) and working as a hero for four years… Kazumi had completely found what her younger self had sought on the streets all those years ago…

A family.

* * *

**AND WE'RE DONE**

** Thank you to everyone who's stayed with me on this roller-coaster of a story. Like I said last time, my next project will be a fantasy AU with Bakuzumi in the background and more of a focus on Izuocha. I already started working on it. And yes, she'll still be Endeavor's daughter, making her a princess… but she will not be living with dear old dad. No, I'll leave that a surprise.**

** (And no, she wasn't abandoned and adopted by Inko either.)**

** Again, thank you all for coming with me on this journey. I hope this epilogue satisfied you and that you'll keep an eye out for my fantasy AU.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


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